


Should Have Led With Dick Jokes

by Carlot_Saint_Luther



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Angels as Siblings (Lucifer TV), Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asexual Character, Chloe Decker & Mazikeen - Freeform, Deckerstar - Freeform, Demons, Established Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar, Explicit Consent, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Heartbreak, Hell, Homosexuality, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Judas Iscariot - Freeform, Love Confessions, Maze Smith, Mazikeen Smith - Freeform, Mild Sexual Content, Mixed Families, POV Chloe, POV Mazikeen (Lucifer TV), POV Trixie Espinoza, Platonic Relationships, Protective Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Romantic Soulmates, celestials, jesus christ - Freeform, trixie morningstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:28:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28723602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carlot_Saint_Luther/pseuds/Carlot_Saint_Luther
Summary: The morning after Chloe's rescue from Michael, Lucifer and Maze get into a heated argument and Maze winds up with a demon steel in her gut. Rather than call an ambulance, Lucifer prays for a miracle and is tickled at who shows up. Once the crisis is adverted, the unexpected guest commands Lucifer to take him to Hell to confront an old friend and offer forgiveness. Lucifer, Chloe, Maze, and Joshua Nazareth fight their own internal demons in this Hellish adventure based on Lucifer the TV show.
Comments: 21
Kudos: 64





	1. Beatrice

Trixie sat at the kitchen peninsula and slowly spun her spoon in her cereal. She wasn't ignoring it nor was she set on eating it. She heard whistling and footsteps coming down the stairs. She took a slow bite of cereal before she turned to look.

The actual Devil wore the same outfit he had on the day before. Lucifer saw her as he jaunted off the last step and grinned. "Good morning, Urchin."

"Hi Lucifer." She said and watched him grab his jacket from the couch, "Sleep over with Mom?"

"Oh, not much sleeping at all--ah." He pulled a belt out from the sofa.

"I have a question," Trixie spun the stool around to face him.

"Not sure I'm the one you want to have this conversation with, but you will receive more adequate details from me." He strung his belt through the loops, "As people grow up they realize they have these desires, arousals, if you will--" He began, but Trix cut him off.

"Why don't you have wings?"

He stopped halfway through buckling his belt and blinked at her. He resumed and gave a nonchalant huff. "What?"

"I mean, you're the Devil," Trixie flipped her hand palm side up in front of herself, "Doesn't the Devil, I don't know...have wings?"

Lucifer blinked again with a look of concerned puzzlement. "Of course I have wings."

They started at each other.

Trixie raised her eyebrows. "I can't see them? Can I see them?"

Lucifer glanced left to right and flexed his shoulders. Massive white wings unfurled behind him, and he smirked and spread his arms as though he had just performed a magic trick.

Trixie gawked in complete bewilderment and pointed. "Can I?" She asked, hesitantly.

"Of course," Lucifer said with a forced smile, "They don’t burn." She noticed he glanced at the wall of her artwork, full of aliens, monsters, demons, and a Devil, complete with horns and bats wings--a piece commissioned by Maze. Lucifer frowned at it. Trix knew she should take those stupid things down. They were old and embarrassingly bad at this point, but her Mom liked them, and it was a reminder of when Maze lived with them.

Trixie delicately touched one wing and brushed her fingertips down the length of it. "They're beautiful." She whispered. They were so... grand.

"Mmm, but…" Lucifer eyed her suspiciously, and pulled his shoulders back and folded his wings away.

Trix took a deep breath and gave a brief shake of her head, "No. No, it's…" She pursed her lips and shook her head with nonchalance, "I wasn't expecting white."

"Mmmm, expecting bat wings, were you?" Lucifer walked to the kitchen and looked around.

"No," Trix sat back in her seat.

Lucifer found a bag of coffee. "Ugh," He sighed, "Ground. It's like the Detective has no taste sometimes," he turned his head and grinned at Trixie, "Not too bad in men, obviously. Third time's definitely the charm and all that."

Trix snorted a laugh. "You are too hard on Dad," she grinned and took another non-committal bite of cereal.

Lucifer turned to the coffee maker. "So what were you expecting?"

"Hm?"

"Wings," he glanced at her again, not masking the annoyance in his voice, "what were you expecting?"

Trixie's gaze dropped to her bowl. She stirred the spoon slowly and shrugged, "I don't know. Black feathers? Or...brown," she shrugged again. "Just wasn't expecting white."

Lucifer blinked again and slowly turned around to fill up the coffee pot. "Funny you think that. Amenadiel has black wings. Michael has grey. Remiel might actually have the best of all of us, hers look like hawks wings."

Trixie looked up, "Hawks wings? Like, brown and black and white?"

"Yes," Lucifer said, like she was an idiot, "like a hawk."

"Hey backstabber," Mazikeen emerged from Trixie's room and glared at Lucifer.

"Mazikeen," Lucifer forced another smile, "ray of sunshine, you are," he dropped his smile. "What are you doing here? Girls sleepover?"

"Houseguest over at Linda's," Maze straddled the barstool next to Trixie. Demon steel in hand, she hooked Trixie's cereal bowl with the curved blade and pulled it toward her. "Wasn't exactly comfortable over there." She waved the spoon in the air, "'The Devil you know,' yada, yada, yada," and started eating.

Trixie shook her head. "I have school." She stood up and went into her room.


	2. Mazikeen

Lucifer narrowed his eyes as he watched her leave, "When did she grow tall enough she didn't have to jump off the bar stool?"

Maze stopped mid-bite and looked at him with disgust. "She's a human teenager, you dick," Maze glared, "Kids grow up."

"Isn't she, like, 10?"

Maze put down her spoon and tilted her head incredulously at him, "Uh, two years ago."

"Dad's name, has it really been that long?" He sighed and leaned against the counter as the coffee brewed.

"Yeah, well, that happens when you abandon us,” she spat, “Here. On Earth. For a couple of months."

"Don't start with that again, that was weeks ago," he rolled his eyes.

"You abandoned me!" Maze snapped and slammed her hand on the countertop.

"I didn't abandon you, you have a life here! I wasn't going to kidnap you!" Lucifer yelled back.

"Hey!" Maze and Lucifer looked to the stairs where Chloe stood, fully dressed with her badge visible at her hip, a look of annoyance on her face. She looked sternly between Maze and Lucifer. "It's not even 7." She said evenly, "I haven't had coffee yet."

"Give it another minute and you will,” Lucifer smiled and walked over to meet her, “good things come to those who wait." He slid his arms around her waist with a grin. Chloe grinned back and placed one hand on his cheek, the other arm wrapped around his waist, and kissed his lips.

"Good morning, Lucifer," she said.

"Good morning, Detective," he grinned back.

They smiled at each other and her hand slipped down to rest on his chest. Maze rolled her eyes and grunted in disgust and heard him say, "And go fuck yourself, traitor."

"You're the traitor," Maze hissed. "You're supposed to be my friend and you have done nothing but use me and hide secrets from me. From me!" Her voice raised, "You're supposed to be my friend!"

"And you're supposed to be mine!" He yelled back, "Not my brother's lap dog!"

Chloe closed her eyes and groaned softly. She gave one half-hearted pat on Lucifer's chest before she headed to the kitchen. "Good morning, Maze."

"Morning, Chloe. I'm glad you're alive." Maze said flatly without breaking her staring match with Lucifer.

Trixie emerged from her room with a backpack over her shoulder and looked from Mazikeen to Lucifer and back again. She sighed and walked over to Maze to wrap her arms tight around her neck in a hug. "Don't forget what we talked about last night, ok?" She whispered in Maze's ear. Maze relaxed slightly, and Trix hugged tighter, "We're family. Families fight. But we don't have to put walls up. It's not worth it."

Trix was such a sweet kid. Maze wrapped her arms around Trixie with closed eyes. "I won't forget. Have a good day at school." She let go and grabbed her demon steel and held it up to Trixie, "And don't you forget the other thing we talked about. You need me to take care of that dumbfuck who's giving you shit--"

"Maze--" Chloe sighed, eyes wide with frustration.

But Trix cut her off with a sarcastic huff, "I won't forget. I'll take care of it myself." She touched her temple and gave a knowing wink.

Maze smirked proudly, "That's my girl."

"Please don't teach my daughter to solve her problems with violence." Chloe reprimanded and Trix moved towards her.

Maze blew out her lips, "How else do you solve problems?"

Chloe looked at her incredulously as she held out her arms for Trix, "With words, Maze."

"That's what losers do." Maze informed her.

Trixie walked into the open arms of Chloe. Chloe kissed Trixie's forehead and hugged her close. "I'm so glad you're ok, Mom," Maze heard Trix's muffled voice, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Chloe visibly swallowed, but her voice was steady when she replied, "Hey, I'm ok, Monkey." Chloe looked at Lucifer, "I have a guardian angel."

"More like the Devil looking over your shoulder." He smiled, clearly pleased with himself. Idiot.

Trixie pulled back and looked her mom eye to eye. A small smirk lifted a corner of her mouth. After a moment Trix nodded and let her arms drop, "Yeah," she nodded, "yeah. You do." She turned to go and paused as she passed Lucifer and threw her arms around him for a hug.

His hands flew up and out, "Ah, what's happening?"

"Thanks for saving Mom." Trix said.

He relaxed, gave her a hug and complacent pat on the back, and she let go. With her back to Maze, Trix looked at Lucifer for a moment longer and headed out the door. Lucifer watched Trix walk away with a puzzled expression. He looked at Chloe, who grinned at him over a mug of coffee.

Maze turned back to her cereal. She stabbed the cereal box with her steel and dragged it over to pour more. "Did you spend the night in Trixie's room, Maze? Your room is still the way you left it, you could have slept there." Chloe turned to open the fridge.

"The walls are thin." Maze poured another bowl.

Chloe pulled a half-gallon of milk from the fridge and turned around wide-eyed. She blinked, cleared her throat, and placed the milk in front of Maze. "You know, I didn't get the chance to thank you for everything you did to help find me."

"Oh, don't thank her just yet," Lucifer breathed and poured himself a coffee.

Chloe reached out and grasped the back of Maze's hand. Maze glared at Lucifer's back as Chloe said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Chloe," Maze met Chloe's eyes and she relaxed a fraction as she looked down to pour more milk on her cereal, "Nobody fucks with my hoes." She hit Chloe with one of her most Devil-may-care looks as she screwed the cap back on.

Chloe squinted her eyes, pursed her lips, but gave her head a side bob, "Okay." She moved over to Lucifer. "I'm going to head to the precinct," she said, "are you coming?"

Lucifer looked at her like she was crazy. "Detective, you were literally just kidnapped by my twin brother and kept like an animal in a Zoo. It was positively cliche, almost offensively so. Maybe just take a day and... decompress?" He suggested.

Chloe's steady thoughtful gaze dropped from his eyes to his lips, and she shook her head. "No. No, I...I…," she looked to Maze and saw she was watching them. Maze chewed slowly and Chloe looked back at Lucifer. "I'm fine," she nodded, dropping her gaze and straightening her blazer, "this is…" they locked eyes, "this is my new normal. Celestial craziness, right?"

Lucifer breathed a laugh, "I hope not. I get cast out from the Silver City and no one calls for eons. I'm on Earth all but 5 years and it's a Dad-damned family reunion." He glanced at Maze. She raised her eyebrows and looked back at her cereal. She heard him sucked in a breath, "Maybe just...ease into it? Take a personal day?" She heard a smile enter his voice, "I'll take one with you! We'll go shopping! And have more sex! This season's Prada just screams Detective. I like it when you make me scream 'Detective,' too."

Maze glanced up to see him smiling and extremely pleased with himself. _Idiot_. "What do you say?"

Chloe gave the impression of considering it but moved away. "I'm going into the precinct. Ella, just--God, I should have checked on her before leaving. She'll be there and," Chloe paused and nodded, "she needs a friend."

"Don't we all?" Maze muttered.

Lucifer restrained a reluctant sigh, nodded, and forced a smile, "Right. Give me time for a wardrobe change and I'll see you there. Text me if there's a crime scene.”

Chloe smiled and turned to gather files and her laptop. Maze dropped the spoon back into her bowl and set her jaw. Lucifer met her gaze evenly.

"You sided with _him_ ," Lucifer sneered, "don't think I'll forget that so quickly, Maze. You and I can stab each other’s backs for all eternity, but betray the Detective and I will _personally_ incinerate you."

"The only betrayer here is you," Maze threatened him with the point of her demon steel. She stared at him coldly. "Why?"

"Why what?" Lucifer snapped condescendingly. Maze felt her anger boil and pointed at his hand with the steel, "Why didn't you tell me that's my mother's ring? Why did you keep it?"

Lucifer looked down at his hand, "This?" He held it up for her to see, "It's my ring. Lilith gave it to me. Try to keep up, but you aren't my one and only friend in the world, I'm allowed to receive gifts from other people."

"But I am your _closest_ friend _and_ your best servant!" Maze growled loudly through gritted teeth, eyes wide with fury, "You should have had the decency to think maybe it would have meant _everything_ if you had passed it to _me_."

Lucifer's jaw dropped and he huffed, "What has gotten into you, Maze? You want a soul one minute and then want to be tied to an artifact that does nothing but suppress one the next?" Maze's stoney expression didn't falter, but a slight twitch of one eye indicated the statement struck. Lucifer stepped closer to lean in. He spoke slowly, carefully, and threateningly, "Why do you think she gave it to me?" He leaned closer over the counter, "Stop trying to play outside the demon sandbox, Mazikeen."

Maze's arm whipped out lightning fast. Lucifer moved to block, but the demon steel still struck just below his right clavicle, in just deep enough to stick. He let out a yell and glared at Maze. He ripped the dagger out and slashed back at her, but she was already out of reach.

"Fuck you!" Maze screamed, "Why do I even fucking bother trying to talk to you? Why do any of us even fucking try to talk to you?"

"Mazikeen!" He yelled back, but she screamed over him.

"You're selfish! You're so fucking selfish!" She leveled her voice again. "You have people who love you, Lucifer. You are the center of our lives," she shook her head, furious, "but we aren't at the center of yours."

"Maze," Chloe said softly, and Maze turned to look at her. Chloe was calm like she was ready to talk Maze down. Well, she wasn't having it.

"And you!" She pointed at Chloe, "The only person he treats worse than me is you! And you STILL love him!"

The slightest look of shock flashed in her eyes, but otherwise, her cool expression didn't change. She shook her head, "No, no, Maze…"

Maze flipped out her index finger and touched it, "He purposely did not show you he was the Devil--or even a _fucking_ angel--because he _knew_ you couldn't handle it; no human handles it--and you'd never speak to him again," she flipped out another finger, "he plays with your emotions like asking you on dates and standing you up," a third finger, "he married a complete stranger and shoved that in your face with the intention to hurt your feelings because he knew if he hurt you enough you'd hate him. He never had any intention of just letting you be; he would never actually just _back off_ and save you all the heartache; he was always going to rub it in your face." Pinky finger now and she felt her chest ache with the mention, "He fucked Eve for months and he DIDN'T EVEN LIKE HER," Maze glared wide-eyed at him, and saw exactly the look of horror she expected on his shocked face, "for no other reason than to fuck with your emotions AGAIN. And when you finally took your shot," Maze looked back at Chloe and stopped. Chloe's face was stone, her jaw set, but her eyes shone with hurt. Chloe broke eye contact to look away. Maze's chest felt hollow, her throat tight, and her eyes burned. She let her hands drop limply at her sides.

She wished Eve was there. Eve could always break the tension. Maze felt stronger when she was near, but...she wasn’t. "When you finally took your shot...he left." Maze sniffed and shrugged, "There were a thousand ways he could handle that, but he left you." She looked back at Lucifer. He looked furious but she saw the shame brimming in his eyes. What a fucking weak-ass Devil. Who even was he? "You didn't come back for her," Maze sneered at him, "You came back because your brother stole your life and _that_ was worth coming back for."

"That wasn't what happened and you know it." He hissed, but his words lacked venom.

"That was _exactly_ what happened." The words dripped with hate and pain even to her ears. "You _torture_ us. You bring all these brilliant, incredible, passionate people together, and we have grown together, and forged iron clad relationships together, and have nothing but love for one another, and you do nothing but break our hearts." Tears rolled down Lucifer's cheeks and he quickly wiped them away. "Chloe is amazing, Eve is amazing, Linda and Amenadiel and Trixie, and even fucking Dan are amazing. And you know what?" She gave the slightest chuckle, "I'm amazing too." She inhaled deeply and let out a sigh. "You've always played with people's desires. Always." She looked up at him from hooded eyes and shook her head, "You aren't playing me anymore. Keep the damn ring."

Lucifer stared at Maze, eyes full of regret, and slowly walked closer to her. She turned to go but let him grab her by the arm. He pulled her towards him for an embrace, and the demon steel entered her gut with a sickening squelch.

"Go to Hell, Maze." He whispered in her ear.

"Maze!" Chloe shouted and jumped to her side. She shoved Lucifer back and put her arm under Maze as she slumped. "Oh my God, Maze!" She looked at Lucifer, "What did you do?! Why did you do that?!"

Maze stared at the curved handle skewing her and then looked up at Lucifer, bewilderment on her face. "What the fuck?!"

"Lucifer!" Chloe snapped, "Call an ambulance."

"Detective, she's not-"

"Call an ambulance!" Chloe shouted at him and glared.

Lucifer raised his hands to placate her, "Detective, she didn't mean those things, she's clearly under Michael's influence," Lucifer said, "he plays on people's fears! Yes, I…" he floundered for words as Chloe half-walked, half-drug Maze to the couch, "yes, I've made some rather bad choices and maybe played with some people, but that was terrible and I'm trying to change. But Detective, I have never played on yours-" Chloe whipped around and her glare silenced him.

"The best response here," Chloe said calmly and quietly, staring him down, "is, 'I'm sorry, Maze.' Just…'I'm sorry.'" She held his gaze as he flinched. "Call. An. Ambulance." She demanded.

Lucifer took an involuntary step back, and once at a safe distance behind the couch, sighed. "An ambulance isn't going to help her." He said, "She's a demon. It's only a gut wound, she'll be fine in no time. Might even shake her out of this nonsensical...spell!" He settled.

"Well then," Chloe said and held one of Trixie's nearby hoodies to Maze's bleeding side with the blade still sticking out, "you had better start praying that's exactly what happens."

"I'll do that." He said, but his words didn't have much weight to them. "Chloe," he said, rounding to the back of the couch and meeting her gaze. "I meant what I said, that's not what happened." The desperation bled through his voice too, but Chloe's face betrayed nothing. There was Maze's girl.

"Now is not the time, Lucifer," Chloe said and pulled out her phone. Lucifer quickly grabbed it from across the couch back and locked the screen.

"Right, right. Praying for a miracle now." He handed the phone back to her and stood back in a prayer pose.

Fuck, it hurt. Maze let out a soft moan, shifted uncomfortably, and sucked air through her teeth as her body wracked with pain. "I hate you so fucking much right now." She growled, and she was pissed at how much it sounded like a whimper.

Lucifer opened one eye and looked down on her, "Quiet, I'm praying. And you are still under Michael's influence. Fear is the mind-killer and he's clearly flayed your thinking."

Chloe closed her eyes, sighed, and unclenched her jaw. "Lucifer, I do not know what you think you're doing, but this isn't helping Maze."

"Oh no?" Lucifer dropped his hands to his sides with a self-satisfied smirk. "Then we can just ask him to leave, yeah?"


	3. Chloe

Chloe stared at Lucifer annoyed and he pointed past her. She turned to see a man sitting in the chair by the fireplace, one leg crossed over the other and hands clasped on top. He wore a tight-lipped smile and his eyes gleamed as he looked from Chloe to Lucifer, Chloe to Lucifer, Chloe to Lucifer. 

Lucifer gave the slightest bow at his waist, "So funny to see you here. Not the one I expected, but glad to see someone was listening." 

"Right?" The man agreed and a hint of sarcasm flavored his tone and facial features, "I mean, I wouldn't normally just show up like this, but I heard that prayer and was like 'Is that Lucifer?' Then I thought, 'pfft, no way,' but I'll be damned!" He exclaimed, and Lucifer hummed a menacing laugh, "Lucifer Morningstar was praying for a miracle!" The man folded his hands on his lap and sighed happily. "So here I am." 

"I'm sorry, and you are…?" Chloe interjected. 

The man sighed apologetically, "Oh, no,  _ I'm _ sorry, where are my manners? I'm Josh." He held out his hand and Chloe stared at it for a moment before hesitantly reaching for it. 

"Josh…?" 

"Joshua," he smiled brightly and kindly. He had a disarming smile and friendly face, "Joshua son of Joseph. Of Nazareth." 

Chloe froze, began to speak, stopped, and looked at Lucifer, who was grinning. 

"May I offer you something to drink?" Lucifer asked Josh politely, leaning in.

Josh smiled like the two shared a joke, "You know I won't take it!" And the two broke into a version of a fake and somehow genuine laugh.

"Joshua of Nazareth?" Chloe asked for confirmation. 

"Yes," Josh nodded, "or, maybe, Carpenter? Joshua Carpenter? Is...is that what WASPs do? Tag on some trade as a surname?" He frowned pensively and threw a look at Lucifer for verification. Lucifer gave a reassuring nod and Josh smiled, nodded, and looked at Chloe. 

"... you're…." 

Maze rolled her head to look for the first time and let out a moan. "Jesus Christ," and rolled her head to face the couch again. Lucifer let out a giggle, Josh's eyes went wide in mock scandalized shock, and Chloe buried her face in her hands. She counted to two and looked at the man sitting across from her again. He had an infectious tight-lipped smile and she felt the corners of her mouth trying to pull up. Such as it was, she couldn’t help but think his smile was on the verge of downright wicked. 

Chloe inhaled and considered her words, "It's...nice to meet you." She nodded, "I’m Detective Chloe Decker. Thank you for...gracing my home…" If it was possible for his eyes to sparkle any more, they did. Josh's eyes flicked up towards Lucifer, back to hers, and gave an understanding sympathetic nod. 

"I get it," he held his hands up in front of him and gestured up and down himself, "It’s weird to see some stranger just show up in your house claiming to be Jesus Christ when I do not look like 'Jesus Christ'." He used quotation fingers, "Centuries of Western art has ingrained a very specific image that I do not fit it. At all." He flexed his hands on his knees and smirked. “ _ Literally _ no one in this town would hire someone like me to play Jesus. No one." His eyes widened slightly, in a semblance of frustration, but they quickly reverted back into pleasantry a moment later. "It's fine. What do I care, anyway? It's not like using ethnically diverse individuals to historically and  _ positively _ represent important cultural figures matters or anything. WASP Jesus is fine." He said in a way that indicated it was not fine. "Also can you believe WASPs couldn't manage  _ Joshua _ ? They renamed me Jesus. That one hurts. I've met a lot of Joshs since I died. It’s not a hard name to pronounce. Little pissy about that, if I'm being honest." 

Chloe wasn't sure how to navigate the conversation following that, so she tipped her head towards Maze. "Is there anything you could do for my friend?" 

The sparkle vanished from Josh's eyes and he tilted his head in confusion. Then he glanced down at Maze. "Um," he uncrossed his legs and leaned on his forearms towards Chloe. She leaned towards him too, "So," he said slowly, gently, "There is no great way to tell you this, so I'm just going to come out and say it." He waved one hand to indicate all of Maze, "Your friend is a demon." He said seriously. 

Chloe didn't respond. 

Josh sat perfectly still, watching her with concerned patience, one hand still outstretched, palm over Maze. 

The silence stretched. 

Josh gave it another go, "Like, an actual demon...from Hell." 

Chloe nodded, "Yeah, I know. Can you help her, or...can you...not?"

"Oh! No, I can help her," Josh quickly assured her, "I just…" realization dawned in his eyes and his face fell into an expression of disappointment, "I just wanted to be certain you knew that this…" he glanced back at Maze and raised his eyebrows, "is an actual…" he glanced back at Chloe again, "demon." He let out a sigh and looked at Lucifer like he was trying to figure out if he was being punked. Chloe looked over her shoulder to see Lucifer grinning widely, sipping from a mug. The two men looked at each other as Josh processed exactly what he had popped in on. 

"Quick reality check," Josh said loudly and clapped his hands, causing Chloe to jump and Maze to groan. Lucifer headed towards the kitchen, "When I just instantaneously showed up in your living room," Josh began carefully, "the most surprising part about that was I'm the Son of God, not that I just miraculously appeared, and you've acclimated rather quickly to this information, so that means you are used to the divine appearing just like--" he snapped his fingers.

"Angels can come and go in a blink of an eye," Chloe shrugged, “You get used to it.”

"That's not entirely fair, Detective," Lucifer interjected as he paused pouring coffee into a fresh mug, "Some of us can last much longer, you know that!" Chloe's eyes widened in a combination of annoyance and embarrassment.

"Gross," Josh said casually and moved on, "So, you definitely know she's a demon." It was rhetorical. 

"Mazikeen of the Liliam," Chloe answered immediately.

Josh's eyebrows shot up again, "Oh shit, is that who this is?" He looked back and forth between the women with shocked laughter, "Wow, I should definitely be the one in awe of you! That's terrifying," he laced his fingers together and met her gaze once again, "So then you  _ definitely _ know he's the Devil." He looked up at Lucifer who rounded the couch with coffee. "I know he's very upfront about it, but the only thing more unbelievable than someone who looks like me is 'the Way, the Truth, and the Light' is that someone who looks like him is actually the Lord of Hell. Although I don't think anyone is surprised to see a White Devil." 

Lucifer made an indignant sound, "It's true, but you didn't have to say it." He held out a mug towards Josh. 

He gently shook his head and whispered, "I'm not taking that." 

Chloe nodded, "Yes, I know he's the Devil." 

"And," Josh tilted his chin upwards slightly, "you're just...cool with that." He finished flatly. 

Chloe shrugged and nodded, "Yes, I'm fine with that." 

Josh brought his chin back down in a nod, "Interesting choice of words, 'fine with that.'" 

"I mean," Chloe squeezed her eyes shut and held up a hand to catch a moment. She opened them again and fixed Josh with a look. "I know. And it's new and it's different but...I love him. And, and he loves me," She glanced at Lucifer still standing off to their side. He visibly relaxed and smiled at her. "In his way." She finished and saw his smile falter slightly as she looked back at Josh. Josh was watching them with a calculated look, but stayed quiet. 

Maze let out a sigh, "Zoe, you idiot, I literally listed a handful of reasons why he  _ isn't _ worth it." 

Chloe clinched Maze's hand, realized the blood loss was probably worse than she realized, and looked back to Josh, who had a look of agreement on his face. 

"Maze, I swear to Dad--" Lucifer began, but Josh cut him off. 

"Don't take Dad's name in vain," He scolded and gave Lucifer a warning look, "I don't know what kind of temptation is happening here, or what deal you've struck, but it's particularly sinful. Even for you." 

Lucifer let out a frustrated sigh and glared at him, "There's no deal or temptation here!" He glanced at Chloe and gave a smirk, "Well, no more temptation than usual." She grinned back.

Josh sighed, held up a hand, and commanded, "Devil, be gone!" And Lucifer was gone. 

Chloe looked at Josh with shock. "Where--? Bring him back!" She yelled. In her peripheral vision, she caught someone pass by the front window and Lucifer angrily strode in through the front door, a finger pointed at Josh.

"Don't do that!" His eyes flickered with a hint of red. 

Chloe started to stand up but noticed the bloody hole in Lucifer's shirt where Maze stabbed him was no longer bloody. He looked fine under it, actually. So instead, she reached out to Josh. "Please," she said, and Lucifer walked behind the couch and sat next to her, pouting, "Maze is hurt. I can't remove the blade or she'll bleed out. Can you help?" 

"OH! Right! I'm going to miracle a demon," Josh shook his head as if clearing it and moved from the chair to kneel next to Maze. He grabbed the steel with one hand and placed his other on her stomach. "This will hurt, Demon, and then it should itch like crazy, and then you'll probably be good." He paused in thoughtful reflection and clarified, "You'll be back to normal." With that, he pulled out the blade and covered her wound with his other hand. Maze grunted and nearly doubled over, but Josh kept his eyes closed and head bowed. She panted and then stopped, lifted her head, and looked at Josh. 

"That was it?" 

Josh lifted his head to look at her and nodded. "Yeah, that's it." He pushed himself up with surprising grace, blade carefully held outward in one hand.

Chloe ran her hand over where Maze had been stabbed. There was no trace of a mark. There was no blood anywhere, even on the clothes. Her shirt was still ripped. "Maze, are you alright?" 

Maze shoved Chloe's hand away and swung around into a sitting position. She scratched at the spot and let out a sigh, "Thanks, Jesus." She said softly and held out her hand, "may I have my blade back?" 

He handed it to her and she leaned back with a sigh. She tapped the flat of the blade on her palm. There wasn't any blood on it either. 

Chloe let out a sigh and looked up, "Thank you." Josh smiled and she turned to Lucifer, who also smiled. "What the Hell, Lucifer?" She demanded.

"What?" Lucifer touched his chest, "You should be thanking me! Look, even her demeanor has changed. Told you she was enchanted; Joshua miracled it away with that healing." Chloe and Maze glared at him. "What?" 

Maze stretched over Chloe's lap and buried the dagger in Lucifer's quad. 

He yelled and glared at her. "What the bloody hell was that for?" 

"You were surprised to see Jesus, you dick!" Maze accused, "you were seriously going to let me die!" 

"You weren't going to die Mazikeen! Not technically," he said. 

"I'm going to stop you right there," Josh clapped several times and everyone on the couch looked at him. He grabbed the arm of the chair he previously sat in and moved it closer to the couch before sitting down again. He looked at Maze and forced a smile, "I'm afraid we've never met. I’ve heard a lot about you," he said with a look that indicated it wasn't good, "but I've never met you. Yet you recognized me." He smiled, and while not tight-lipped, it was genuine. "I'm curious as to how." 

Maze glanced reflexively at Lucifer, realized what she did, and sighed. She repositioned herself and took Josh's measure with a single look. "You're in his Hell Loop." She said casually. 

Josh shook his head, still smiling, "Who's what? Hell Loop?" 

"Judas Iscariot." Maze answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

Josh froze and all good humor dissipated within moments. He slowly repositioned himself and cleared his throat. 

"Why, Maze?" Lucifer sighed uncomfortably and moved to drape an arm around Chloe. The only response Chloe gave to that was to hook her arm through one of Maze's while not taking her gaze from Josh. But she did let her hip press in closer to Lucifer as she shifted.

"A Hell Loop?" Josh looked between the Devil and the demon. "Is hellfire, hot pokers, and stretching tables on repeat or what? And I am _certainly_ not there for that, so...?" 

"You've never taken interest in our work before." Maze stated, clearly enjoying his ignorance, "What's got you interested in knowing what Hell Judas is facing?" 

He looked like a man purposely keeping a cap on his emotions as he took a moment to respond. "He was my friend." He finally stated. 

Maze waited a moment longer before she added, "Who betrayed you. A friend who betrayed you and is, ergo, not your friend." 

Josh's eyelids fluttered as he thought about that. 

"Takes one to know one.” Lucifer muttered, and then more loudly said, “As engaging as this is, I really do hate to talk about work, so if you'll kindly miracle my leg back to normal," Josh slammed a hand down on Lucifer's knee. They locked eyes and Lucifer gave the slightest panicked shake of his head.

"Back to Hell with you, Devil," Josh said. 


	4. Chloe

The Devil, a demon, a human, and the actual Son of God stood together dwarfed by towering walls on either side. It was hot, ash fluttered down, and the faint sounds of distance muffled screams filled the dead silence. Chloe gasped and backed into Lucifer, shocked.

"Detective! Are you alright?" He cupped her face with a hand to tilt it up to him, his other around her back. 

She didn't answer immediately; her eyes slid side to side as she took in her surroundings. "Are we…?" She forcibly slowed her breathing, but the air was heavy and the heat was oppressive. It felt like the atmosphere was hellbent on crushing her.

"In Hell? Yes." Lucifer said angrily and looked at Josh, "She doesn't belong here. She's human and still very much alive!" 

"You're welcome to fly her back," Josh said, "after you take me to see him." 

"I'm not taking you anywhere!"

Josh stepped up close and forced a smile, "You like making deals, don't you?" He glanced down between them and back up again, "How about I just miracle away that demon steel wound and you take me to Judas?" 

"That is literally the stupidest deal I've ever heard," Lucifer spat the reply, "you heal anyone if they just ask!" 

"Weeeellllll, you're not anyone, are you?" Josh cocked his head, still wearing a fake smile. "You're the Devil, fallen from Dad's favor. My Grace is for humans." His face betrayed that he was clearly calculating whether to say what they were all thinking. With reluctance and an eye roll, he muttered, "And demons, apparently." Lucifer glared and Josh held his fake smile. Chloe just barely heard him whisper, "I'm giving you the chance to save face. You have to take me regardless." 

Lucifer looked down at the blade still sticking out of his leg and let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine. Deal." 

Josh hummed in agreement, stepped even closer, and reached down with one hand and yanked the blade from Lucifer's leg. Lucifer grunted, squeezed his eyes, and then jumped as Josh slapped his other hand over the wound. Josh closed his eyes, bowed his head, and lifted his head again to look up into Lucifer's eyes. "Take me to him." He demanded with a thin smile. 

Lucifer set his jaw and extended his free hand in a direction. Josh set off without a look back. Lucifer let his arm slide from Chloe's back and took her hand. "Come on," he said, and moved after Josh, "I'll get you out of here." 

Chloe hesitantly let him pull her from her spot and walked beside him. The pressure on her chest began to lighten and the temperature seemed to drop from scorching to mere extreme discomfort. She looked up into the vastness above them. "It's so dark," she whispered in awe. 

Lucifer hummed his agreement and looked behind them. Maze hadn't moved. "Come along. Mazikeen," he said, "I'll fly you up." 

Maze stood in the passageway visibly listening for something. Lucifer sighed, patted Chloe's hand as he let go, and walked over to Maze. The uneasiness immediately began to creep inside again. Maintaining an arms-length from Maze, Chloe heard Lucifer quietly ask, "Who's here you want to see?" 

Maze looked at Lucifer with some surprise and looked him up and down. She set her jaw and finally said, "Lilith. I want to talk to her." 

Lucifer blinked, confused, "What?" 

"She's dead, Lucifer," Maze said, annoyed, "and she sure as shit isn't in Heaven." 

"Lilith's dead?" He asked after a moment and glanced down at his hand. He made a fist and raised his head to look at Maze. "I'm so sorry, Maze. I didn't…" 

"Know?" She finished with a huff. "Yeah, you've been preoccupied. But whatever. She's only your oldest friend, and…" she trailed off, audibly snapped her teeth together, and looked away. The silence hung uncomfortably between them. Maze's jaw flexed and she glanced down the passageway. "Let's go. We've got people to see." She said as she brushed past him and stalked past Chloe. 

Chloe stepped closer and placed a hand on Lucifer’s arm, "Hey, is everything ok?" She asked. She heard a tremble in her voice. From the look on his face, Lucifer heard it too. 

Lucifer forced a smile, "Yes, it's fine. Just learned an old friend is around here somewhere. I'm surprised to hear about it now is all." He inhaled and took her hand in his, "Shall we?" 

She watched him for a moment and then nodded, "Okay." They walked quickly to catch up, but they left some distance between themselves, Maze, and Josh. 

The four walked through the caverns of sheer black cliffs and columns, the occasional heavy door fit in every so often. Chloe thought the walls resembled towering ruins that might have experienced a cataclysmic blast. The exterior was raw and foreboding, but there was a clear compartmental design. She stretched her neck and wiped away a trickle of sweat with her palm. "The doors aren't locked?" She looked at Lucifer and he at her. "What's in there that they aren't locked?" 

Lucifer looked ahead again, "It's the damned. They aren't locked down here, they're welcome to go." 

Her confusion was audible, "Do they know that?" 

"Some of them definitely do, I've told a few myself," he replied, "but they keep themselves here, punishing themselves. It doesn't matter that the doors aren't locked."

Chloe looked at him. "What do you mean?" He looked different somehow. Taller, but she reached the same shoulder level she always had. More menacing, but there wasn't a particularly upset expression on his face. He looked somehow...regal, but he wore the exact same thing he found her in the day before. Perhaps it was the shadows, the ash, and the oppressive heat that made her see things that weren’t there. 

"They think they deserve it." He looked ahead and called out, "Take a right." Josh looked back and glanced around. He took a few more steps in the direction he was going and veered off into an unseen corridor. 

Chloe inhaled sharply, barely avoided choking on the smoke, and he looked at her again. She regained some composure since they first appeared in Hell and considered what he said. "They think they deserve…" 

"To be punished." Lucifer finished, "Those who die with overwhelming guilt or regret insist on it. They hold on to some unforgivable transgression, whether theological or otherwise, and believe they don't deserve anything but punishment." They rounded the same corner and Lucifer called out, "Take the right fork!" Josh purposefully continued in that direction and Maze followed a step behind. 

Chloe was quiet as she considered that and then asked, "What about the people who commit horrible crimes and feel no remorse? No regret? No guilt? Like Pete?" 

"Oh, he'll be here," Lucifer assured her, his eyes hard, "he likely won't be here because of the murders, he's clearly not haunted by those, but the man has regrets." He sighed, "Unfortunately that does happen sometimes. There are truly evil people in the world, as you know. They always find their way here for some reason or another. And just to be certain," he pointed as they approached a new door and squeezed her hand, "we do make certain those souls can't leave." Chains crossed a door; light flickered behind a grimy view box. 

"Which way?" Josh called as he stood at another fork. Maze strode past him and took the left path.

"Left," Lucifer called up and Josh followed Maze.

"What--?" Chloe started, eyebrows furrowed, and looked at him. She paused when he looked at her and shook her head. "Nevermind. You don't like talking about it." 

"I'll tell you anything you want to know, Detective," he said with a smile, but she heard the reluctance in his voice, "ask me anything you like." 

She hesitated and then asked, "What is a Hell Loop?" 

Lucifer inhaled, "It's a reliving of the worst moments of their life, over and over again." 

Chloe remained quiet, but she squeezed his hand. He returned the squeeze and smiled down on her. "Don't worry." He said, "Nothing you'll ever have to worry about." 

She shook her head and forced a smile. "Right," she looked straight ahead through the gently falling ash and tried to ignore the heat, "Where are we heading?" She asked, "Seventh Circle of Hell?" 

"You did read Dante," he sighed and growled, " _Alighieri_ ," under his breath, and then yelled ahead, "Right!" In a normal voice, he responded. "For brevity, let's say yes. We're heading to the Seventh Circle of Hell." 


	5. Mazikeen

Josh and Maze walked stride in stride. The homecoming wasn’t what she expected. She thought she would feel a sense of belonging. Instead, the smoke burned her eyes and the darkness weighed heavy on her. The heat was sticky and tried to suck the very air from her lungs. She expected to feel relief being back in the place she had spent her whole life. But, if she was being honest with herself, she realized she hated it. 

"So what should I expect?" Josh asked casually and held out the demon steel to her. "This is the first I'm hearing about a Hell Loop." 

Maze glanced at him and took it. "Hard to say. We like to switch up Hell Loops around here to keep things fresh, so who knows exactly what you'll see." She stated flatly. He stared at her with a look of barely contained horror. "What?" she shrugged, indicating her complete lack of influence on operations, "They're here for all eternity. We have a lot of time to torture souls, so we like to switch it up. Different sceneries, different languages, different time periods, but same scenarios. Same shit, different day. Sometimes they relieve their happiest memories leading up to the tragedy, other times it's just the worst periods that lead up to the tragedy. Sometimes they relieve every single day during a meaningful period of time, sometimes it's just clips and highlights. But whatever the situation, it's all their point of view and they go through the motions every time. The emotions, too. The fear, the hurt, the guilt, the anger, it's all very real. Over and over and over." 

"How is that supposed to keep things fresh?!" Josh asked incredulously. 

"The damned are going to do the exact same thing every time," Maze sighed. "Every. Single. Time. It gets dull. It's not so much for the damned, it's for us so we don't keel over and die from boredom. Demons don't have souls, so once it's over for us, it's really over for us." 

Josh cocked his head, "I never considered whether or not angels or demons could die." 

"So. To answer your question," Maze shook her head, "I don't know. But you were there during my shift, so you'll still be there now." 

Josh looked sick and Maze looked ahead. Usually talking about work made her feel better. It was nostalgic, generally comforting, but now she was beginning to feel sick about it too. 

She ran her tongue over her teeth as she thought. "Look, word of advice? Between us girls?" She began, and Josh glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. Maze hesitantly and awkwardly placed a hand on his shoulder. When her flesh didn't burn, she gave him a consoling couple of pats, "Don't do this to yourself, man. What do you think you're going to accomplish here?" 

"I'm going to talk to him. I have to see him." He replied immediately. Maze raised an eyebrow at the finality in his voice. 

"And what are you going to say to him? To the man who betrayed you?" She gave him a look, "The one who nailed you up on a cross?" 

"He didn't--" Josh started and sighed, his eyes closing in frustration. He inhaled deeply and opened them, slowing his stride a little. Maze slowed as well, watching him. "He didn't nail me up on a cross. Lawmen did. Following orders that came from men in positions of power who were following orders from others above them." A look of disgust crossed his face. "It's not specific people who were the problem. It was the system." 

"It very much _was_ a specific person--he turned you in." Maze said, "He tipped off the authorities to your location and with enough reason to put you in custody. That's not a friend, that's a traitor." 

The tendons in Josh's jaw were tight as he clenched his teeth. He didn't say anything. 

Maze let the silence stretch and then asked, "What do you say to someone who did that to you?" 

Josh pursed his lips and shook his head. He looked at her, "I guess you'll just have to watch and find out." 

Maze's eyebrows rose again. "Oh, I'm not going with you." 

"You're not?" 

"No, I've got my own battles to pick." Maze set her jaw and stared ahead, picking up the pace. 

Josh increased his pace to keep up. 

"And may I ask who that might be?" He asked. 

"You may not." She said in a voice that indicated it wasn't up for discussion. 

They took a few more steps before Josh asked, “So you’re going to tell me how pointless it is to go talk to someone here, all while planning your own little, what? Demonic heart to heart? How’s that going to go for you?”

Maze didn’t answer but rolled her eyes. 

They took another few steps before Josh gently placed a hand on her arm and slowed with an, "Okay." She took another step, his hand fell away, and she reluctantly turned to look at him. They stared at each other and Maze was certain her expression was nowhere near as benevolent as his was, "I don't expect we'll ever see each other after this, so I'm just going to say this to you." His eyebrows rose up and his grin became wider as he eagerly prepared to tell her something. From over Josh's shoulder, she saw Lucifer and Chloe slow to a stop a few paces away. Josh was waiting for Maze to make eye contact again, and when she did, he said, "You need to get your shit together and keep it tidy, Mazikeen, because you're a fucking mess." 

Maze felt her eyes widen. She was surprised to realize her jaw had dropped open as well. Josh's eyebrows relaxed, but his grin widened even further. "Okay, good talk." He whispered and continued past her. 

Lucifer and Chloe's concerned faces tipped Maze off that she looked as angry as she felt. She spun around and stalked after Josh, grabbed his arm, and turned him to face her. "You don't get to tell me how to live my life  _ or  _ do my job." 

"Don't I?" He tilted his head thoughtfully, but his body language indicated he was fully ready to have this argument. 

She decided this didn't need to be a conversation. She pulled back her arm to punch him. She jabbed straight for his nose, and before she realized it, he had both his hands wrapped around her arm and felt her body lift as he threw her past him. Her back made contact with the ground and the breath rushed out of her. A moment later she sucked smokey air back into her lungs, flipped up onto her feet, and spun to face him. He stood with that infuriating grin on his face, body stance casual and relaxed. Behind him, Lucifer stood grinning, clearly amused, while Chloe looked shocked. 

"Alright, alright, alright," Josh made a 'time-out' sign and sighed, "okay, what do you want to say to me?" 

"That I'm going to kick your ass." She growled and threw another jab. This time she was ready for his side step and followed up with a hook. 

He wasn't there. He had stepped back, so she moved forward. He blocked several of her attacks before being shoved back with a blow to the stomach. She went on the defense, fully expecting an assault, but he was also in a defensive stance. They stared at each other. 

"Aikido?" Lucifer ventured. 

Josh didn't look back, "Aikido." 

Lucifer was tickled, "Oh, yes! That is just classic you. The most pacifist style of martial arts." He laughed and looked at Chloe and practically cooed, "He would." God. Damned. Idiot. 

Maze dropped her arms as her rage burned out. She spit to the side, glared at Josh for a moment longer, and finally said, "You do not get to tell me how to live my life," she said in a gravelly voice. "You, God's own son, do not know a thing about what I've been through or dealt with or--" 

"Or what?" Josh snapped sassily, and his face showed he was in no mood to let this go. "Or been abandoned? Or hurt? Or felt alone?" He stepped closer, tilting his head for an answer, "Because is that what you've been going through? Maybe you've felt," he looked away and thought about the words, and when he looked back his expression was fierce, "maybe you've felt like you could just die of loneliness? Like your heart was going to collapse in on itself because the hurt was so great?" Maze straightened, somewhat surprised, "Maybe you took some action or didn't take action, and ever since then you've been wondering 'but what if'? And it kills you that maybe if you had just," he glanced away, staring off at the ground beyond her, gesturing precisely, and squeezed his eyes shut, "if you had just said it. If you had just done what you knew you should have done in the moment and you didn't do it anyways and ever since all the events that have followed could have been completely avoided if you had just said--" 

He inhaled sharply and his eyes snapped open and looked at her with a hint of wild expression. He held his breath a moment and then exhaled. He shook his head and Maze felt her chest and throat tighten. She realized she hadn't been breathing and took a shaky breath. 

Josh stretched his jaw and snapped his teeth shut in an emotionless smile. "If you had just said….the right thing." He looked down at the ground and frowned. "Maybe you feel like everyone around you has it figured out. Maybe you feel like everyone else has made all the right choices and their lives are perfect. Maybe you feel like if you just got...closure or vengeance or...a second chance?" He looked up and they made eye contact again. He looked tired and fed up and his gaze bore into her. She felt exposed. She swallowed, her chest still feeling tight. "If you could even get _one_ of those things, all that hurt and pain and darkness would go away and you could move on. But it doesn't." He shook his head. 

Maze tried to speak but couldn't. She could barely breathe and realized that the presence of Hell had been pressing in around her. People could feel that if they didn’t fight; that crushing weight, the sensation of completely being overrun by a foreboding presence. She squeezed her eyes shut, forced a few deep smokey breaths, and opened them. For the first time, she noticed the look on Lucifer's face. It was his angel face, but he had never before looked so much like the Devil. Cast in shadow and ash falling around him, she knew that expression. She knew it well. It was an awful expression to look upon. Maze glanced at Chloe. The detective was staring at nothing, stoney faced again. Maze glanced down between the two and saw their clasped hands. Fucking soulmates. 

Maze shifted her attention to Josh. "I have to try." She tried to say it with authority, and while her voice was steady, it lacked conviction. "I have to know." 

Josh shrugged, "Why? What will it do for you?" 

"I need answers!" Maze's voice raised, and for the first time she felt tears in her eyes, "Why doesn't anyone love me?" 

Surprise crossed Josh's face. "What do you mean?" 

Tears welled over, but she didn't sob, she wouldn't let that happen. "Why am I unlovable?" She closed her eyes tight trying to force the tears to stop but they wouldn't. She opened them again and said in a broken voice, "I know why. It's because I'm a demon. I torture people. After a lifetime of torturing people," she sucked in a lungful of acrid air and sighed, tears rolling down her cheeks, "you aren't good for anything else, much less loving." 

Josh still looked confused, "Are…?" He started, but stopped, considered his words, and started again. "You are lovable." He said. 

The sob escaped and fresh tears spilled over. "No, I'm not." Her chest squeezed, her throat tightened, and the words cracked. The tears kept coming. She squeezed her eyes shut. The pressure that crashed in on her was practically physical; she could feel the force of it. She didn't want to see his pity. She felt gentle hands on her upper arms and opened her eyes. Josh stood and grinned at her, and not with pity. He looked at her with...love. 

"I love you." He whispered, and it was like chains loosened around her chest. She finally gasped in the smoky air and an audible sob that almost sounded like a laugh escaped. She couldn't break eye contact, so tried to smile back. Her jaw quivered, but slowly her throat began to unclench and the wetness in her eyes subsided. 

His hands gently squeezed her arms, reassuringly, and familial. When the pressure lightened, he still didn't let go. She was thrilled because she was certain if he had, she would shatter into a million pieces. He must have known he was the only thing that held her together.

"You feel that, don't you?" He whispered conspiratorially, leaning in and grinning like they shared a secret. Maze laughed awkwardly again, the last of the moisture in her eyes sliding down her cheeks. He smiled a tight-lipped smile and nodded. "That's my love. And," he inhaled and paused briefly, then squinted his eyes at her to give his words emphasis, "And I'm just going to give it to you freely. Forever." Her jaw quivered again, and she knew a look of terror spread across her face. He shook his head reassuringly, and gently squeezed her arms again. "You don't have to do anything." He moved even closer and their eyes were inches apart. "There is nothing you have to do or can do or will do to earn my love or lose it. It's yours. Until the end of time." He was so close, and she realized she could feel the divinity rolling off him in waves. They stood together staring at each other. He inhaled. "Whenever you feel those things, Maze, whatever those awful, empty, feelings are, I want you to remember this. Us. Right now." He tilted his head forward and rested his forehead against hers. "And I want you to know you are enough. You are lovable and I love you and nothing will ever change that. I want you to have peace."

Maze inhaled as she slipped her arms in along his sides and squeezed him tight. She pressed herself against him and buried her face in his neck. His arms wrapped around her back and hugged her as he pulled her close.

A sob caught Maze's attention and she peeked over Josh’s shoulder. Chloe visibly shook and tears streamed down her cheeks. Her free hand was pressed over her mouth. Lucifer brought her for a hug and held her head to his chest, kissing the top of her hair. He didn't say anything, didn't look at anyone, just held her like she might disappear at any moment. He looked so human and yet so supernatural. He looked like she remembered him. And if she was being honest with herself again, she realized she didn't like that look at all.

Maze sniffed and stood straight up, embarrassed for losing herself like that, until her eyes met Josh's again. He was genuinely happy to see her. It was written all over his face. She couldn't think for the life of her why she was embarrassed to express emotions in front of this man. 

"Why?" Maze whispered, voice still shaky but she had a firm grasp on her composure again, "Why would you just love me? You don't even know me." 

Josh looked thoughtful for a moment and he rubbed her arms a few times before he released her. She had never felt so steady on her feet in all her existence. "Loving someone, truly loving someone, doesn't take a lot." He said. "It doesn't take a lot when you can just love unconditionally." He clarified and pursed his lips. "That's what I do. I love people. After a while," he grinned, "I'm not good for much else." 

Maze laughed and felt relaxed. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so light. She couldn't stop smiling. That wouldn't do, so she forced her joy into a wide grin. 

"You'll remember, right?" He asked, squinting. 

"What?" 

"That moment between us just now." He said quietly, coolly. From millennia of torturing souls, she recognized something behind those words, "Will you promise to remember it for me?" 

His carefully masked panic caught Maze off guard, but she didn't give any indication she noticed it. She nodded her head and whispered, "I promise." 

"Good." She caught a hint of relief in his voice as he said it, and he turned to look at Lucifer. Josh's face fell when he saw Chloe pressed into Lucifer, trembling. "Oh! No, I'm so…I'm so sorry." Lucifer tensed as Josh placed a hand on Chloe's back and she gasped, shocked. She jerked away from Lucifer but did not completely move out of his arms. Josh looked at her with concern. "You feel it too?" Josh smiled, understanding in his voice and his eyes shining with love. Chloe took an unsteady breath in and nodded. 

Josh smiled all the brighter, "I'm glad." His voice was strong, honest. He meant it, “I mean, I didn’t expect it to have this effect on you, but...probably should have realized the amount of energy it took to get through to a demon,” he smiled back at Maze, “might have been a little too much for a human. I am sorry about that, I didn’t mean to overwhelm you, Chloe.” His smile faded to a tight-lipped secret grin. "We'll have our own talk," he said, and Maze would go so far as to describe his tone as sad, "but not right now." He looked at Lucifer. Catching the Devil’s expression, Jesus Christ took a casual step back but otherwise didn't indicate any sort of uncomfortableness about the situation. Chloe wiped away her tears, her breath steadied, and the trembling stopped. Maze inwardly felt awful for the woman. Fucking the Devil, kidnapped by an archangel, watching her demon ex-roomate bleed out on her couch, and now traversing Hell with Jesus Christ--not great on the nerves. Maze had considerable experience with humans’ emotional limits, and while Chloe was admirably strong-willed, she was still human. Those limits would be tested, Maze suspected, and the day was still young. 


	6. Chloe

Chloe told herself to breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out. Ignore the heat and the smoke and just breath. The uncontrollable shivers that took over had stopped, but she still felt sick. Her stomach was in knots, her throat was tight, it was so fucking hot, and she wasn't ready to make eye contact. She watched Josh's feet take a step back before he timidly asked, "So do we just keep going this way, or…?" 

There was no response from Lucifer, but a moment later the world around her exploded into ash and blew outwards and away as if caught in violent gusts of wind. The only physical sensation was the slightest breeze, which seemed like it should have been a relief, but Goddamn, it felt like the heatwave from an opened oven.

... _Right_.

She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed forward into Lucifer, who kept an arm around her. It didn't feel like they moved at all, but when she opened her eyes and looked around, the four stood in a circular clearing. It actually reminded her of a square in the middle of Rome, with wide avenues spiking out between towering earthen pillars. The visible doors had chains, save two. She caught Josh's expression out of the corner of her eye. The complete shock was slowly replaced by frustrated annoyance. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and opened them to stare intently at Lucifer. 

Calmly he asked, "Could you have done that at any point before now?" 

Lucifer hummed a confirmation. 

Josh stared and, by all accounts, impressively contained his frustration. "Then why, praytell," he said calmly, eyes wide with annoyance, "didn't you?" 

"You took off like a man who wanted a walk," Lucifer responded in a playful tone that Chloe recognized all too well. She closed her eyes and when she opened them, she saw Josh had closed his too. He opened his and stared at Lucifer like he was too tired to fight. "Didn't want to come between you and your proud jaunt." The humor had faded and Chloe knew Lucifer wasn’t smiling. 

Josh stared at him for a moment and as he turned around, muttered, "This really is Hell." He looked at the doors. "Alright, Lucifer, which one?" 

Lucifer pointed at a chained door. 

Josh looked at it determinedly, took a deep breath, and walked towards it. Chloe began to follow but Lucifer’s hand remained firmly clasped with hers and he gently pulled her back. 

"Detective, let's go." He said and unfurled his wings. She looked at him, turned to look at Josh striding towards the door, and back at Lucifer. It was so hot, it was unbelievably hot, but he could see she was thinking. "Detective," he said, almost pleadingly, "Let's go. You don't belong here." 

Chloe glanced down at their hands, stretched between them. She looked back at him, "I have to know." She said and let go. She turned and jogged towards Josh. She looked back to see Lucifer still standing where she had left him. Maze stood staring at one of the unlocked doors. She looked as though she was building up the courage to go in. Chloe slowed and apprehension built as she and Lucifer looked at each other. That was a bad move. She shouldn’t have let go. What would happen to her here as a human? Dread wound its way into her chest and she prayed Lucifer would follow. 

Lucifer sighed and folded his wings away to jog after them. "This is a bad idea and I strongly advise against it." He said, taking her hand again. She immediately felt relief as their fingers interlaced. They trotted up to Josh as he placed a hand on the chains. They fell to the ground and suddenly the door was behind them. 

Josh and Chloe cringed and clapped their hands over their ears as shrieks and howls and jeers and yells offended their ears in a horrifying, whirling blackness, and then suddenly all was quiet. 

A man sat up in a cot breathing heavily. They were all in a long room lined with other cots. The man in the cot was terrified and looked fervently around. He didn't seem to see the three of them standing by the door. He slowly relaxed but remained seated on the cot. 

Another head poked up from one across the room. It was Josh. 

"Hey," Josh said sleepily, eyes squinting from sleep, "is everything okay?" 

The man nodded. "Yes, thank you," the man whispered as his breathing slowed, "just a bad dream is all." 

"Oh, that's the worst, especially when traveling." Josh shifted and sat up. He rubbed a thumb along one eye. "Waking up from a bad dream in an unfamiliar place is disorienting." He smiled at the man. "Are you alright now?" 

The man nodded, "Yes, yes, thank you, Rabbi. I actually can't even remember what it was about." He said, confused. 

Josh smiled, "That's good. And you can call me Joshua Nazareth." 

"Judas Iscariot."

"Sweet dreams then, Judas." Josh slid back down onto the cot and covered himself with a blanket. 

"Sweet dreams," the man muttered in agreement, and slid under his own blankets. 

The scene was obscured from view as black sand poured on it. As the grains ran off, a different scene was exposed, and Josh and Chloe jumped in surprise as a strange man stood in extremely close proximity to them. Lucifer didn’t look surprised, but looked like...well, like he expected a report.

"My Lord!" The stranger exclaimed, with some shock and awe in his voice. Even as the scene shifted around them, the man shifted into a woman, and still stared with admiration at Lucifer. 

"Kronos," Lucifer acknowledged. 

"To what do we owe the honor?" She asked, sounding slightly nervous, "We haven't seen you for...an age," she said carefully, noticing Josh for the first time. With unmasked confusion she looked back at the scene, which involved Josh telling an engaged audience a story as Judas watched off to the side. She looked back at Josh and hesitantly asked Lucifer, "My Lord…?" 

"We're apparently giving tours now." Lucifer said sardonically. 

The demon now eyed Chloe with an extremely controlled neutral expression. Chloe watched her with a steady gaze and the demon returned her attention back to Lucifer. "You joined us on a fun loop," she said, "quick bursts of all his happiest memories leading up to when he began to have concerns about what kind of waves they were making in the region. It's quite tortuous, my King, for he breaks in these loops quite unlike any of the others.” She turned to address Josh, who distractedly looked between her and the scene, “Please, do stay and observe. I'm certain you and your father will be quite pleased with his punishment." The scene shifted again and her features started to meld into a different man, "If you'll please excuse me." 

“Of course,” Lucifer extended his arm in a casually pleasant dismissal. 

Josh turned to look at Lucifer with condescending disgust, "I'll be pleased?" 

Lucifer let out a huff, "We're following orders, here. Eternal damnation, there's protocol." 

Josh turned away in revulsion and watched the scene. 

"These people love you, Rabbi," Judas said. They walked ahead of a group of people, a few other men a couple paces ahead. Chloe stared stunned at the breathtaking scenery before her. The sky was open and bright, the landscape was rocky and verdant. There was even a breeze. It was still hot, but no longer god-awful unpleasant. All the people--men and women both, a surprising number of women, actually--looked...real? And there were so many of them. 

While the scenery looked deceptively lifelike, her peripheral vision caught shadows. Incorporeal faces watched behind swirling black sand. She shifted her eyes to look directly at them but instead the landscape focused in that spot, the details became sharp and lifelike. Maybe she imagined it, but then realized she could still see shadowy faces watching in swirling black sand just beyond her vision. Chloe focused her gaze towards them again. She was again looking at the group of Josh’s followers. 

"Do you think they love me enough to be cool with stale bread and jerky for dinner again?" Josh asked, a sort of sarcasm in his voice but also with a significant weight of seriousness to the situation.

Judas pulled back his lips and audibly sucked air through his teeth. They stared at each other for a moment before Judas said, "They'll probably be fine." 

Chloe touched Lucifer's arm. He leaned towards her, "Are all these people...demons?" She asked, bewildered. 

"Yes, all of them." Lucifer nodded. 

"There must be hundreds of people here," She indicated to their sides. 

His eyebrows lifted in mild surprise, "Oh, you see them, do you? You're handling it quite well," he said quietly. "And yes, there are hundreds here. It's _literal_ pandemonium. Perhaps we leave Joshua to his misery and find someplace less creepy? Like LA? And, yes, I do hear how that sounds, but it's a _comparatively_ less creepy place. I should know." He gestured flippantly around them.

Chloe frowned and didn't move. Lucifer nodded reluctantly, "For what it's worth, Detective, I'm going against my better judgment." He rarely spoke to her with such solemnity, "There's no reason to be here." 

"Let me see it." Chloe said evenly, watching his expression, "If this is what you do--did--then,..." She trailed off and shrugged, resigned, "let me know. We're letting each other in, right? This," she looked back and the scene was buried in swirling blackness again. She noticed that Judas stumbled in the center of it, dazed, but as soon as the next scene settled it was as if nothing happened. He slid right into the rhythm of it. "This has been your life for eons. It's your history. I want to have a glimpse into it." 

"That's right, it is history," he concurred, "the past; completely behind us." She knew he was irritated, but he maintained his composure. 

She tried to lighten the mood and slid her hand into his, "You got to see what I did before I met you." 

"Yes, but you were naked in a hot tub, which was arguably more enjoyable for both of us than this." He looked as if he wanted to say something more, but instead let out a breath, "A conversation for another time." 

She nodded and turned to watch again, but pulled his arm a little tighter to her and felt his thumb run over her hand. Her lips turned up in a small smile at that. 

Josh, the real Josh, stood a few steps in front of them. The scenery was, again, indescribably beautiful, and Demon Josh stood in the center of an amphitheater. The theater wasn’t especially small, and fairly well packed. People sat and watched, some spoke among themselves quietly. Judas sat with the other now familiar faces, watching Demon Josh with a look of… admiration? Adoration? She glanced at Demon Josh again, and she couldn't believe how well the demon captured Josh’s charisma and warm personality. When the demon finished speaking he looked at Judas with his tight-lipped smile and the stadium erupted in yells and chants and song. Some people rushed down the steps and knelt at Josh's feet, and he kindly placed his hands on them and spoke over their heads. It didn't look like praying, but nearly identical to what Josh had just done to Maze. 

Chloe flipped out her index finger casually towards the crowd. She looked at Lucifer, "Is...is this accurate?" She asked. 

"Accurate to Judas' memories, yes." He nodded. 

She shook her head, eyes closed, "Mm-mm, no. No. I mean, is this," she gestured at the whole scene, "accurate? This crowd? This place?" 

Lucifer cocked an eyebrow, "Well if you'll notice, I'm not here." He gestured, "I don't actually know." 

In her head Chloe counted to two, and then asked evenly, "What about any of the sermons? Did you ever see what he was doing? It looked like you two have a history." 

Lucifer chuckled, "That we do, and, yes. I did stop in on one. I suspect we'll see it." He grinned at her, "I'll let you know if it's how I remembered it as well." 

Chloe eyed him with a grin and let out a skeptical huff, "Okay." She looked back at the new scene. It was a small group of Josh, Judas, and a few of what had to be the other disciples, and women. 

"Who are they?" She asked. 

"His disciples." Lucifer nodded.

"I've worked out that much, who are the women?" 

Lucifer frowned, "His disciples." 

Chloe stared and felt her jaw drop, "Some of his disciples were women?" 

"Yes," Lucifer nodded like it was obvious. "He was extremely progressive. Traditionally women weren't allowed to hold positions of power in Judaism. When Joshua declared that was the old way and he was the new way, women were welcomed to share the message of _Dad's love,_ " he emphasized the words with his usual malice, "and so here they are." 

Chloe squeaked out a short indignant croak, "Why aren't they in the Bible?'

Lucifer looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, "Are they not?" He asked sarcastically, then continued. "Joshua made waves and tried to bring about a lot of change. Thing is that many people don't like change, especially those in power who are very happy with how things have been going up to that point. Those in power determine how history is recorded and…" he shrugged. "Plenty of powerful people have cherry-picked what history will remember. I should know; I'm very familiar with it." 

"Holy shit," Chloe whispered and looked back at the laughing crowd. Josh and another one of the female disciples had been bantering and Chloe just missed the punchline as the crowd roared with laughter. The scene shifted, glimpses of Judas indicated he remained sitting, and the scene settled into a bright, sunny day. Chloe's jaw dropped and she slowly turned around to take in the stadium around her. It was a colosseum. Not as large as the one in Rome, but the scale was incredible. It was _f_ _illed_ with followers. People--demons--were packed in close, some stood in the isles and others sat with legs dangling precariously over ledges. 

Demon Josh spoke unnaturally loud and clear that cut through the din of noise. Again, if the real Josh hadn't been standing in front of her, she wouldn't have known it wasn't him. He finished speaking and the crowd laughed and cheered. Chloe hadn’t been a particularly religious woman, but she was _certain_ that line hadn't made it into the Bible. She saw Lucifer cross in front of her and sat among the disciples. She began to walk forward but felt the hand still holding hers hold her back. She started and looked between the two, "Oh my God!' 

"No, oh your Devil," Lucifer said, "But we have arrived at the sermon I popped in on. And yes," he looked around them and nodded, "This looks like I remember it." 

"This is a sermon?" She asked incredulously. 

"Of course!" He smiled widely and giddily looked back at Demon Josh, "I forgot how sharp-tongued he was. I think he would get along famously with Jon Stewart, don't you? Probably Trevor Noah, too. Bassem Youssef. They all seem to enjoy the same political satire. They would have a smashing religious-garb comedy tour if they took it on the road." 

Chloe couldn't believe it, "Jesus is a political talking head!" She gestured, exasperated. 

"Yes!" Lucifer said, "Why do you think he was crucified?" 

"Because…" she realized she didn't really know. "Fine, why was he crucified?" 

The real Josh turned back to look at them, "Because I riled up the masses," he sighed. He stepped back to join them but didn't take his eyes off the group of disciples and Demon Lucifer. Between the supernatural projection of Demon Josh's voice and the chatter from the crowd, it was impossible to hear the group’s discussion. "Every effective speaker knows they have to get the audience on their side. If they have identified their audience correctly, then it's a matter of uniting everyone around common beliefs or interests. What brings people together better than maybe poking some fun at the current party in power?" 

"Or what better way to polarize them," Lucifer interjected. "Honestly Joshua, you should have led with dick jokes." 

"You are so vulgar!' Josh hissed and jerked his head towards the group, "What were you telling them, anyway?" 

"That you should have led with dick jokes." Lucifer responded dryly, giving Josh a look. 

Josh returned a sarcastic sneer and walked off again. 

"Speaking of jokes, think we should check in on Dan?" Lucifer asked smoothly as he turned back to Chloe.

She stared at him with squinted eyes. He gave one more reluctant nod and glanced at the group. Demon Lucifer stood up, made a final comment with a wide smile, and turned to walk away. Chloe wondered how she could have mistaken him--Demon Lucifer was lean like when they had first met. Lucifer had definitely bulked up since then. She hadn’t actually realized the difference until just now. Her Lucifer actually showed a few more years, some fine lines around his eyes, a touch of grey in his beard. But that was impossible? He couldn’t have possibly remained exactly the same for millennia and then age notably in just a few years. It couldn’t be because he was on Earth because Demon Lucifer looked _exactly_ as she remembered him, and he had already been on Earth for what, five years at that point? She had only known him for four? Unless...had he been aging _with_ her? She glanced at him from the corners of her eyes. Holy fuck, he _had_. Was it her fault? Was he doing it intentionally? Was it even real or was it an illusion? She ran her tongue along the back of her teeth as she considered the cause of it and what it meant.

Demon Lucifer quickly disappeared among the crowd of standing and sitting spectators. Judas watched him go with a slight frown on his face. Demon Josh had now slipped into a recognizable sermon and called on his audience to treat others as they would treat themselves. 

Terrible advice, Chloe thought. In her experience, people were always the hardest and most unforgiving on themselves. The world didn't need anyone treating others that way.

The scene blew away in a black sand storm and Judas stood up. He stumbled some but righted himself and walked stride in stride with Demon Josh and one other female disciple. It was evening. 

"We're not telling you to stop, Rabbi, we're just saying let's take a moment and decompress." Judas said and he looked pleadingly at the woman, "Mary?" 

"Josh," Mary placed a hand gently on his arm and Demon Josh stopped with a reluctant sigh, "We're doing so well. People are listening to you. You're making a difference in the world! You're making the world a better place!" She exclaimed and smiled, "Let's pack it up for a few months. Let your followers think about your message, and pray on it, and we'll start again in the fall. We'll be rested and fresh." She said, "It will be good for all of us." She squeezed his arm gently and let her hand slide down. Demon Josh looked like his patience was running thin. He glanced between Mary and Judas, Mary and Judas, Mary and Judas, but it was nothing so kindly as how he looked between Chloe and Lucifer earlier that day. 

Demon Josh inhaled sharply and snapped, "What did the Devil tell you?" He looked at each of them so coldly they stepped back. Chloe looked at Lucifer, but he didn't look surprised. 

"What?" Mary whispered, clearly caught off guard. 

"What. Did. Lucifer. Tell. You?" He clipped every word and glared at Judas. "I saw the Devil sitting among you, talking." The way he spat the words sent a chill up Chloe's spine.

"He didn't tell us anything," Judas said quietly, shaking his head. Chloe sickeningly recognized that head shake. He couldn't tell Josh the truth. 

Demon Josh turned his glare to Mary. "What deal did he make with you?" He looked at Judas again, "What did he promise you?"

"He didn't make a deal with us," Mary said in a soothing voice. She had regained her composure and smiled sweetly at Josh, "No, no, Josh. He just stopped by to say," she faltered in her cadence, "how much he had heard about you lately. He came to ask what you've been doing." 

"As we told him of the good works you've been doing, he seemed…pleased," Judas quickly added, "Rabbi, I'm not certain what he was playing at, but we told him to leave." 

"He left moments later." Mary agreed. 

Judas inhaled and stepped closer to Demon Josh, "We do not lie," Judas said in a complacent tone, "Joshua, Lucifer seemed happy with what we told him." Concern was evident on Judas' face. "If someone who refers to himself as the Devil is so happy with your work, then," he sighed and shook his head, "something has to be wrong." 

Demon Josh practically sneered at him. "Don't." He growled, "Don't you let him get in your head. That's what he _wants_. He _wants_ us to stop what we're doing. He _wants_ to confuse you _because he's the actual Devil!_ " He looked at Mary and she flinched, "The answer is no. If you are tired, you may leave, but I cannot waste months sitting idly by--" he stopped himself and forcibly calmed himself down.

In an even voice, he began again, "We aren't having this conversation again. We will continue with my father's work. You are either here with me, or you may preach my word back at your homes. But I tell you this," Demon Josh looked at Judas with such ferocity that the man leaned back, "You do not believe me wholly and you do not understand the full weight of my message. You do not understand it, Judas, and I do not know how you and I can continue unless you trust me." 

Shocked tears welled up in Judas' eyes, "How can you say that?" He whispered, "How can you say that about me? I am your closest friend," his voice rose in anger, "I _love_ you and care about you more than _any_ of these other fools!" He pointed back the way they came. 

"Josh, you didn't mean that," Mary whispered and Demon Josh held up a hand to silence them. Mary snapped her mouth shut as she looked at the ground with some semblance of shame. Demon Josh inhaled and closed his eyes. He shook his head as if to clear it and opened his eyes. 

"Do not do what you think is best for me," he said evenly through gritted teeth, "I will continue down this path my father has set for me. It is His will and I will do what He has commanded." And with that, he turned and walked away. 

Judas and Mary watched him go and Mary slid her arm through Judas' and hugged against it. Judas rested his cheek against her head. "He's so tired," Mary muttered. "Judas, he's going to work himself to death." 

"That or he's going to get beaten to death." Judas lifted his head and sighed. Mary released her grip and looked at him. "We are his friends. His closest friends. How do we talk him out of this?" She sighed and looked after Demon Josh, "What is a few months out of an entire lifetime? Why can't he just give it a rest?" They were quiet for a while and she looked back at Judas with tears in her eyes. 

"What is it?" He asked. 

She nodded slowly, reluctantly. "He's right." 

"What do you mean?" 

Mary breathed in and let out a sigh. "This is his path. He knows what he's doing and...and as his closest friends, we have to trust him. Completely." She slowly shook her head, clearly upset, and let out a small laugh. "If we know him better than anyone and we can't trust him, why should anyone else?" 

"You heard what Lucifer said," Judas said, and she cut him off. 

"I did hear what he said." Mary nodded, "He said 'tell me what is it you desire' and you said you wanted Josh to be safe. Whatever you're thinking, it isn't what Josh wants, it's what _you_ want, Judas." She placed a hand on his arm like she did Demon Josh's, "I understand that you’re coming from a place of caring, but Josh is right. Don't let the Devil get in your head." 

Judas sighed, "Lucifer isn't really--"

_"Trust. Josh."_ He looked at the ground and Mary tilted his head up. They looked into each other's eyes. "Trust in God." She said. 

Judas let out a shaky breath, "God has done very little to earn my trust." 

Mary shook her head, "Don't be so blasphemous, Judas," she scolded. "How could you say that? God brought us together. He put Josh here and brought all these brilliant, incredible, passionate people together, and we have grown together, and forged iron clad relationships together, and it has given our lives _so much meaning_ , Judas. God did that." He inhaled shakily and she embraced him in a hug. He hugged her back and buried his face in her hair. They stood there and black sand whipped around them. 

Chloe heard Lucifer hiss and turned to look at him, "She bloody stole those lines from Judas' Hell Loop! How dare she use them on _me_!" 

Chloe pursed her lips but didn't say anything. The black sand storm didn't settle, but instead whipped around Judas, blinding him as he stumbled in the chaos. Disassociated voices whispered in the wind, voices of Josh, Mary, and the other disciples assaulted him with scripture, fights, apologies, and pleading. He yelled desperate replies and panic entered his voice. Shrieks and threats cut the howling wind. Out of the cacophony, Josh’s voice boomed _"He will be the rock upon which my church is built_ " and Judas let out a heartbroken, frustrated yell in response. In Judas’ voice, she heard him shout _“I don't know how you've done the miracles you've done, but you're not the Messiah and you don't command the angels!”_ Neither the gusts nor the abrasive sand touched Chloe, Lucifer, or the real Josh. The sands broke to open a clearing around Judas, but continued to blow wildly around him. 

"You'll just chastise him?" Judas asked desperately, "You'll denounce him and send him home?" 

"That's right," a man nodded, casually. "Facing the Sanhedrin generally scares practical thinking men. They typically straighten themselves out, and as well you know, Joshua Nazareth needs to be straightened out. We can't have anyone jeopardizing this relationship between the Nation of Israel and the Roman Empire. Our people have suffered enough and God has graced us with this opportunity, we cannot let a zealot ruin this for everyone.”

Judas nodded, nervously. "I know, I know. Yes, I know...I...I can't talk sense into him, I need…" 

"Authority?" The man suggested.

Judas nodded, distracted. 

"Who is that?" Chloe asked. 

"Caiaphas of the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of Judaism at the time." Lucifer said, "He's one of those people in power who was very comfortable with the way things had been and eager to put an end to Joshua's... influence." He smiled drily, "Make Israel Great Again, if you will." 

The man pulled out a purse and held out his hand for Judas. "Thirty silver pieces."

Judas looked at the purse, confused, "You are willing to give me _this_ just to bring Joshua to you?" 

The man leaned forward, conspiratorially, "It's of the utmost importance we speak with him." The man nodded towards the purse as he took Judas’ hand and placed it firmly in his palm, "You're welcome to do with this as you like. Give it to the poor, donate to a temple; whatever you do, we only ask that you do it quietly. We will ask you to deliver him to us after the festivities, no need to interrupt everyone's good time with a reprimand." 

The sick feeling gnawed at Chloe as the scene was lost to darkness. She knew, of course, what was coming. _"We asked you to bring him to us,"_ voices whispered, _"What are you stalling for? We cannot wait any longer_ _."_ She should just leave. Just turn her back on this and leave. But she couldn't turn away. She had to know. 

The scene resolved at a group dinner. A few faces were missing and people were pleasantly chatting around Judas. Upon a quick count excluding Demon Josh, Chloe saw 12 men--the known disciples, she assumed--and 8 women. Judas sat a short distance from Demon Josh, looked around, and his face betrayed that he knew something was off. Recognition dawned and he shakily whispered, "No." He turned to look at Demon Josh and looked at the entrance, "No, no, no, no, no," he began to panic and his face twisted up into a sob, "No, no, no, no, no!" He began to hyperventilate and looked like he desperately wanted to leave, but didn't. 

"I would rather die than say that," a large burly man cried jovially in response to something Demon Josh had said. He gave him a good-natured slapped on the shoulder as he laughed.

Demon Josh slammed his hand down on the table and a hush fell over the room. Everyone looked at him. "Peter, before this night is out, you will deny me _three_ times." Demon Josh stated grimly and turned an intense gaze onto the apostle who sat next to him. 

The man visibly swallowed and shook his head in disbelief, "I…" he licked his lips and glanced around at the others staring at them, "Surely you don't mean me, Joshua?" He asked, voice weak, "I would never do that." He looked at the table. 

"One of you," Demon Josh swept a severe glare around the room, "will betray me." 

Judas continued to hyperventilate, avoiding so much as looking in Demon Josh's direction. The others looked around at each other, and several murmured "No!" 

Demon Josh looked as if he has a sour taste in his mouth as he said, reluctantly, "I feel sorry for the man who is committed to the task," he turned the same intense gaze to Judas, and in a voice that cracked, said, "it would be better for him if he had not been born."

Judas looked as if his heart shattered. He shamefully met Josh's eyes, lower lip quivering, "Surely you don't mean me, Rabbi?" He whispered. No one looked suspiciously at him. 

Demon Josh exhaled and sat up straight, eyes closed, and shook his head as if to clear it. "John, James, Peter," He stood and looked at them, "Come walk with me." Peter and two other men looked at each other uncertainly but moved to follow. Judas closed his eyes as they passed. Once gone, Judas began to stand, but a woman placed her hand on his arm.

"We should give him space," she said gently, looking after them, "he's been acting strange lately. Well, stranger than usual." She turned to look at Judas. She didn't react to his ruddy face from the tears that streamed down his cheeks. "Earlier a woman treated him to a scalp massage with this exquisite perfume." She rolled her eyes, "Of course, _someone--_ " she jerked her head in the direction of some of the men, "said Josh shouldn't have let her do it and instead should have sold it to fund our work. But you know what Josh said to that?" She asked, genuinely concerned, "He said why should he not let her, _she was preparing him for his burial."_ She shook her head, eyes narrowed. "I'm worried about him, Judas. He made some kind of comment about...how we will always have the poor, but we won't always have him. It was cryptic."

Judas inhaled shakily, "I have to go." He moved past her and walked out through the garden. A sound in the night caught his attention and he stared after it. Chloe recognized it. Wings. 

Judas moved towards the sound. Josh stood facing an angel Chloe hadn't seen before. 

Judas let out a shaky breath, "It's real," he whispered, "it's all real."

"I don't want to die!" Demon Josh cried, hands out to the angel, "Tell Father I don't want to die!" 

The angel stepped closer and extended her arms, empty palms facing up, "Joshua, there's nothing that can stop these events from happening." 

"Father can stop them!" Demon Josh yelled, desperately, "Kamael, just tell him!" 

She shook her head, sympathetically, "Death stops for no one, not even demi-gods." Demon Josh squeezed his eyes shut, covered his face and fell to his knees. A moment later, he was face down on the ground, sobbing, repeating over and over again, "I don't want to die! I don't want to die!" 

The angel quickly knelt by him, grabbed his shoulders, and rolled him onto her lap. He curled up against her and she hugged him with one arm and stroked his head with another. "I'm here, okay?" She assured him, but it sounded like a plea. "I'm here. I'm here." 

Chloe looked at Lucifer and tried to speak, but nothing came out. He looked at her and she cleared her throat, "Is that...your sister?" 

"It's a demon who has taken the form to look like my sister, yes." He said softly, "That would be Kamael, the Archangel of Peace." 

Of course. Why wouldn't there be an Archangel of Peace? She turned to look at the scene. Judas was running out of the garden repeatedly whispering "no, no, no, no," and moved through streets. It was a surreal sensation to see the scenery change around her without physically moving, but it stopped as Judas ran directly into guards. 

"Caiaphas' patience has worn out," the lead guard said. "Time you hold up your end of the bargain." He forcefully spun Judas around and marched him back towards the garden. 

Judas sobbed but said nothing until they reached the garden gates. 

"To ensure we arrest the right man, we will need you to positively identify him." 

"You know what he looks like," Judas mumbled.

"We need you to identify him." 

Judas nodded, sniffed back snot, and rubbed his red-rimmed eyes, "Okay. The man I greet with a kiss is the one you want." 

He led the guards through the garden. Chloe's peripheral vision began to darken and became grainy. Shadowy, terrible faces were visible once again. Her skin prickled, but she couldn't look away. 

The group came to the spot Demon Josh and his chosen disciples sat. Demon Josh looked sad and tired as he watched Judas approach. Judas literally dragged his feet as he neared, visibly working desperately hard to resist, but he moved forward as if being pulled. "Don't stand up, don't say anything, don't do anything," his voice shook, and Demon Josh stood and walked slowly to meet him, "No, no, no!" Judas sobbed, sniffed, and tried to gather himself to little avail. 

The two stepped up to each other. Judas tried to say something, mouth sticky with thick spit. Instead, he licked his lips and forced a sad smile. Demon Josh did not. 

“Peter,” Judas finally croaked and nodded at the burly man, “James,” he whispered with another nod, and his voice faded out at, “John.” 

Judas and Josh then looked at each other. Judas reached out with one hand and placed it on Demon Josh's cheek. Judas ran a thumb across his chin and scanned his face like he was trying to memorize every detail. He placed his other hand on the other side and held his face, "Greetings, Rabbi," he whispered and kissed him on the lips, holding there for a long moment. 

Chloe felt tears well in her eyes. She wiped them away before they spilled over. 

Demon Josh stood without any kind of response. When Judas pulled back, Demon Josh watched him coldly. 

A guard started toward them and Peter lunged forward. The guard pulled out his sword, raised it, and Peter shoved the man's arm back. They wrestled with it, Josh and Judas oblivious to the fight, until Peter gained the upper hand and shoved the guard's arm down. The guard yelled out in shock and pain and Demon Josh snapped his attention from Judas to the others. 

"Stop!" Demon Josh commanded and the group froze instantaneously, as if the scene had been paused. "Put your sword away." The scene resumed. Peter indignantly began to protest but Demon Josh sternly shushed him. 

"But Lord!" Peter began. 

Demon Josh pointed to the guard and screamed at his disciples, "He who lives by the sword?!" He turned to look at the guard and the man, hand still clasped over his ear, blood leaking between his fingers and down his palm, "Dies by the sword!" 

Peter's face flushed and he swallowed his next words as Demon Josh stared him down, then glared back at the guards. 

Demon Josh walked to the injured guard and pulled his hand away. He looked at the ear, placed a hand over it, and closed his eyes. When he opened them again he removed his clean hand and the guard's ear was healed. 

"Do what you came here to do." He said icely. The guard glanced at the group behind him and unconsciously scratched at his healed ear. 

Another guard briskly moved forward to grab Demon Josh and black sand slammed down on the scene. 

Chloe felt a firm hand on her shoulder and she jumped. The hand immediately let go and she turned to see Lucifer cautiously watching her, hand hovering at her shoulder height. "Hey, what's up?" She asked. She didn't sound like herself. 

Lucifer looked upset, "Detective, I ask that you leave with me _now_." 

She glanced back and looked with horror at the onslaught of blasting sand and disembodied voices. "Yeah," she whispered and moved away with him, "We should leave." 

Lucifer took her hand to lead her, but they both halted at a commanding "Stop!" They turned to a frozen scene, sand struggling to move, but repeatedly being pulled back in place. It was like watching static. But Josh, the real Josh, strode purposefully through the abrasive debris. 

"Joshua!" Lucifer called, "Joshua, don't!" He released Chloe's hand and jogged towards him, but Josh spun and Lucifer slowed to a stop. Chloe jogged up beside Lucifer and saw the look at Josh's face. It was furious heartbreak. 

"How could you?" Josh yelled, spit flying, "How could you do this? For 2,000 years?" 

"I'm not doing anything!" Lucifer yelled back indignantly, "This is _his_ Hell. These are only the players, he is creating all of this!" 

Josh shook his head, but his expression showed he understood. "This is cruel," Josh whispered. 

"Yes, I'm _well_ aware," Lucifer drawled, "However what Father says, Father gets."

Josh pointed at Judas, "I fulfilled a prophecy," he continued, "and so did he! It's not fair that I played my part and received eternal salvation in Heaven while he played his and received eternal damnation in Hell. Playing his part is how the prophecy was fulfilled! It's how humanity was saved!" His voice was on the edge of hysteria. 

Lucifer set his jaw firmly, "I understand how prophecies work, Joshua, but I am not the one who writes them. You want answers? Take it up with Dad. I have as little control as you." 

With a sweep of Lucifer’s hand, the metric tons of levitating sand blew outwards and away. Demons slid back into the shadowy nothingness until it was only them and Judas, frozen, his back still to them. A large gnarled tree was faintly outlined in the blackness, rooted in rocky soil. Its foreboding presence made Chloe uneasy. She could feel the atmosphere of Hell pressing against her again.

"Lucifer," Josh sighed, teeth clenched and eyes pleading, "I'm asking you to help me." 

"Joshua," Lucifer said sternly, but paused. The two of them stared at each other and Lucifer's face softened. His voice was gentler when he continued, "There's nothing I can do. You know if there was, I would help you." 

Josh pressed his lips together and nodded, tears welling in his eyes. "You're the Lord of Hell and there's nothing you can do?" 

"No. Nothing." Lucifer said, almost with remorse. "There's nothing you can do here either, so…" he gestured back the way they came, "let's go." 

Joshua bit his lower lip and looked in the direction Lucifer indicated. He nodded, "Give me a minute." And he turned to briskly walk in the direction of Judas. 

"Joshua," Lucifer hissed after him, "it doesn't matter, Joshua, he won't remember anything you tell him when the loop starts again!" 

Josh glanced back but continued on. With a wave of Josh's hand, Judas moved again and was clearly shook by the vast emptiness that surrounded them. He spun around and saw Josh and broke into another sob.

Chloe grabbed Lucifer's arm, "Lucifer, he has a noose." 

"Yes," Lucifer sighed sadly, although his expression was anything but, "that's how this story ends. Every time." 

"Hey! Hey! It's me! It's me!" Josh held out his hands in a placating manner, "It's me! It's me." He placed his hands on the rope in Judas' hands and gently peeled his fingers from it. "Hey, it's okay, it's okay." 

"It's not," Judas gasped, "It's not okay. Rabbi, I am so sorry!" Fresh tears spilled from his eyes and Josh flung the rope to the side. Chloe expected it to break into sand, but instead it hit the ground with a solid thump. 

Josh looked at him sadly and shook his head, "Judas, look at me. Look at me!" He placed his hands on Judas' face and held him fast. Judas slowly raised his eyes to look at Josh. 

Josh shook his head and softly said, "I know why you did it." A soft laugh escaped Josh, but it sounded like a sob, "I _understand_ why you did it." 

"But _I_ don't know why I did it," Judas' lip quivered as he placed one hand on Josh's shoulder and another on his arm, "You mean everything to me. My life was so...empty, and then you appeared and made it worth living." He shook his head, "I just ...I was jealous." He took a shaky breath and Josh stroked his face. "You loved Peter so much. You loved Mary so much." 

"I loved all of you, Judas," Josh said, "I loved all of you! Peter and Mary, they…" he floundered for the words for a moment, "They had a role to play and I had to spend that time with them." 

"But you could spend more time with all of us!" Judas yelled in frustration. Josh stiffened and let his hands move away from Judas' face. "Why do you do it?" Judas begged, "Why are you so fanatic? Why did you have to say those things? Why did you have to do those things?" 

"Because I had to!" 

"No you didn't!" Judas yelled back, "You can reach more people if you don't polarize them! If you could have just been more conservative you could reach more people in more years! If you could just live your message a little longer--" 

"Lived my message?!" Josh asked incredulously, "We lived off the goodwill of others! We gave what we had to the poor! I brought women in as my disciples! I performed miracles! _How_ much more could I have lived my message?" 

Judas closed his eyes and made fists over them. "That's it, Josh, that is exactly it!" He flung his arms down in frustration, "It is too much too fast! You are too radical! You worry me, Josh!" 

"And so you literally sold me to the Sanhedrin?" Josh asked, "Like they weren't going to be radical?" 

"Yes!" Judas cried in frustration, "Yes, because they are our religious leaders, Joshua!" 

"I am your leader!" Josh roared back, "I am the Way and the Light! I am the Church!" 

"You keep saying that, Joshua, but you are just a man!" Judas yelled over him. "You are not here to fulfill a prophecy! It is just you and us making our own blasphemous Sanhedrin--” 

"Yes!" Josh spread his fingers in frustration, "We had to move the people to action! We had to play on our followers' passions because if we can't move people to radically act then they won't act at all! The world was at war, Judas, we had to do some radical good!" 

"The world is _always_ at war, Josh, that's what people _do!"_ Judas screamed back and sighed, exasperated. "But you don't have to try to get yourself killed in the middle of all this!" 

"You took care of that--" Josh started and snapped his mouth shut. He placed his hands on his hips and looked down. Judas closed his eyes at the sting of those words. 

"Judas, I…" Josh started again and struggled with the words, "I know why you did it. I wish...I wish you would have just talked to me." 

"I tried, I really tried," Judas started, but Josh gestured for him to be quiet. 

"No, Judas, you didn't." Josh stated softly with finality, "You moped and pouted and went behind my back to stop me. I see in your eyes that you really didn't think they would kill me. I get that. But you didn't try to talk to me, you tried to _stop_ me." He paused and the only sound was Judas' rasping breath, "But I know why you did it. I understand, at least, why you did it." 

"I will live with the guilt for what I've done to you for the rest of my life." Judas sighed, voice cracking. 

Josh turned one ear ever so slightly towards Judas, but the man was already looking down, sniffling. Josh turned to look at Lucifer as the realization clicked that Judas didn't know he was dead. Judas had no idea he was already in Hell.

Josh slowly turned back to Judas. He placed his hands on Judas' shoulders and slid them around to his back, pulling him in for a hug, and placed a quick kiss on the side of his head and rubbed his back. Judas wrapped his arms around Josh, hugged him tightly, and cried. 


	7. Chloe

Lucifer stepped backward and touched Chloe's arm. She turned and followed him to leave the two men in that emptiness. Lucifer opened a door she couldn't see, stepped through, and was immediately hit with heat and smoke. 

Chloe saw Maze lean against the wall next to the first unchained door and stared at nothing. She spun a demon steel one way and then another, again and again. Chloe and Lucifer walked in her direction, but Lucifer motioned for Maze to follow them to the other unchained door. Maze trailed them and the three entered a small room. Chloe saw the name ‘Joshua’ appear on the front of the door before she walked through. 

Once the door shut behind them, the heat immediately dissipated and the space actually felt cool. Chloe was surprised to see it was the elevator that went up to Lucifer's penthouse. When the doors opened Maze and Lucifer walked out and Chloe followed slower, a little surprised. It was the same penthouse but different in some ways. The piano was missing. The stained glass window depicted demons, not angles. The shelves were lined with different figurines and books, and there were pictures here where there weren't in the LA penthouse.

She looked towards the balcony and an involuntary chill ran through her. She walked towards the glass edge and looked out across the massive expanse of Hell.

It was an endless metropolis of darkness and shadows. She couldn't tell whether the sky above was heavy with ominous clouds or smoke. She took in the endless landscape, speechless, and could _feel_ all that darkness trying to push past the balcony. Goosebumps pricked her skin as she knew it tried to reach for her. She took a hesitant step backward and Lucifer stood in her side vision. He stared out at the landscape with a humorless expression.

"It's not Los Angeles." He stated. 

Chloe looked at him and he at her. Somehow, he looked like a different person, but like earlier, she couldn't identify a particular difference that made her think that. But his face softened as they looked at each other, and she placed a hand on his cheek to turn his face towards her. She kissed him, hooked a finger through a belt loop, and pulled him towards her. He pressed his lips against hers and she felt the slightest pass of his tongue across her lips. She parted hers and returned the favor, breaking into a grin. They both smiled and he placed one hand over hers on his trousers and with the other pushed back the hair that escaped her ponytail. He let it rest on her neck and their smiles faded. "I never wanted you to see this place. You don’t belong here." 

Chloe broke her gaze and nodded in reluctant agreement. She looked around, "So which came first? This or the penthouse?" 

"Combination of both, really." He admitted, "The Assyrian stonework was original. Platform bedroom was original. The penthouse was limited after that, so the rest was decorated in 2011, but I actually prefer the way it turned out, so I recreated it here." 

She walked over to a framed portrait that didn't exist in LA. It was her. She didn't remember ever seeing that photo before. 

She grinned back at Lucifer and pointed to the picture. "What's this?" 

"What does it look like?" He strolled towards her grinning. 

"Looks like the case at the University; the perp who was poisoning people. Is this in front of the lab you pulled those students from? That poisonous gas?" She looked back at it. 

"It is." 

"You didn't have your phone out. When did you take this?" Her eyes slide sideways suspiciously towards him, "What other photos do you have of me that I don't know about?" 

"It's not a photo," he smiled wickedly, "it's a memory. You rarely looked so happy to see me. Last time I was down here that's…" he shrugged, "what I had. I could update it now, if you'd like, I have other more recent memories that I'd happily swap." 

The corners of Chloe's lips turned up as she eyed him. "Don't you dare," she winked, "and what do you mean, I was always happy to see you." It sounded lame even to her ears, "What made that so special?" 

He glanced at it and forced a smile, "I decided what we had was real." 

She flipped a finger towards it and nonchalantly asked, "You knew I was--" 

"Heaven sent." He finished quickly and his smile reached his eyes, "I did. I would have told you, somehow, if I could have just...found the right way." 

She had a niggling suspicion he never would have found the right way but kept the thought to herself. She smiled and shrugged, and turned to look at Maze. Maze sat spread out on the couch, flipping her demon steel, looking deep in thought. "Hey," Chloe sat on the couch and folded a leg up under her, "What's up?" 

Maze took a deep breath and sighed, "Maybe another time." 

"Who would be in the Seventh Circle of Hell and not locked up?" Chloe asked. 

"My mother." Maze avoided making eye contact.

Chloe frowned and glanced at Lucifer. "I...you've never mentioned your mother." Chloe said carefully, "Is she...a demon?" 

Maze looked at her with annoyed disgust, "No, my mother isn't a demon. Biologically. Though you’d never guess that from her personality." She looked forward again and flipped the steel. Chloe wasn't certain what to say so stayed quiet. Maze eventually sighed again and said in a flat voice, "I don't know what I expected. I don't know what I thought she would say or how I would feel or what, but…" she shook her head slowly, "Now that it's over, I guess I'm not surprised. I'm just…" she looked down, "disappointed." 

Chloe reached out and squeezed Maze's shoulder, "Families are hard. Relationships are hard. Everything is hard." She admitted, "But, you've surrounded yourself with people who help make it easier."

"Like you?" Maze snorted. 

Chloe slumped, "I'm not great talking about feelings, okay? And you know that. I'm working on it. But, I'll always be your friend. I care about you. You're…" she shrugged, "you're one of us." 

"You kicked me out of the apartment." 

"You left and I didn't stop you." Chloe corrected, sitting straighter.

"You were a shit friend." Maze said bluntly. 

"Annnnd," Chloe took a deep breath, "I'm sorry. I am, Maze. I...was a shit friend. I'm sorry to both of you." She looked at Lucifer and he smiled softly. "I'm sorry to hear you didn't get what you needed out of your conversation with your Mom." 

Maze didn't respond and Chloe leaned back against the couch and heard the elevator doors open. 

Josh stepped in and sighed. "Well, this place is definitely Hell. Nothing here is fine. Is that liquor?" He pointed to the wall of decanters.

"It's basically water," Lucifer replied.

Josh's eyebrows shot up, "Oh, _I_ can make water work." 

Lucifer gave a slight, shocked start, and strode over to him, "Oh, right, you _can_ make water work! Pour me one. And Maze, she needs it." 

Josh grabbed a decanter and two glasses and Lucifer followed with another two. "Shots in Hell, not what I expected when I woke up in the Silver City this morning." He poured into the four glasses, and after looking at Maze, went ahead with a generous pour and slid it to her. 

"I like your shots." Lucifer grinned, grabbing his glass. 

Josh looked at him cautiously, "Is this not a shot? Idk, I live in Heaven." He looked around at the rest and gathered from their expressions that perhaps he measured wrong. 

"You're doing great," Lucifer grinned and held out his glass, "Cheers." 

"Cheers," the rest clinked glasses and Maze chugged the glass. She pulled her lips back and sucked air through her teeth looking at the empty glass. 

"Yeah, that's good." She reached over, poured another generous glass, took a swig, and spewed it out, "It's water!" She wiped her mouth.

Lucifer leaned back to avoid the spray, "The actual Hell, Maze? This is still Italian!" 

Josh wordlessly reached over and, carefully watching Maze instead of the glass, tipped the decanter to refill it nearly to the top. Josh set it down and then looked at Lucifer. "Ready when you are." 

"You weren't left unattended for very long, did you get what you needed?" Lucifer asked coyly. 

Josh didn't pick up on the innuendo. He shrugged, "I don't know. I don't know what I expected. Not that. That was…" he shook his head, "Awful." He looked at Lucifer, "That's not how I remember it. Those final days, it's..." He shook his head again without breaking eye contact. "I don't remember...being that angry. Maybe I was, but...that's not exactly how it happened, right?" 

Lucifer shook his head in agreement, "No, that is his personal Hell loop, so it's from _his_ perspective. Although, when he first got here the loop was probably closer to how you remember it. He was angry, upset, dare I say jealous?" He gave a casual shrug. "But loop after loop his soul has had some time to process, to reconsider events, even though he's not consciously aware of that. That can happen to the older ones. That's why he began to meltdown towards the end, but when you spoke with him, he thought it was just a stolen moment while you were both still alive. He saw the emptiness but didn't really process it. At a certain number of loops the mind begins to know what's coming, but, like a bad dream," he sighed, "there's nothing they can physically do to stop it." 

Josh squinted his eyes, "You’re saying for the past 2,000 years Judas has been reliving that over and over and now he subconsciously knows what's coming and just cries all the time?" 

Lucifer frowned in response, "2,000 years? Oh no, time works differently down here." 

"Two months up there were thousands of years down here," Chloe whispered and covered her mouth with her hand, stunned. Josh looked at her and then back to Lucifer. 

"The Detective is right," Lucifer said, "Seconds move like months, days like years, and years like, well, you get the picture." He raised his glass to take a sip. 

"Oh my God," Chloe covered her eyes and squeezed them shut. 

She heard Josh say slowly, carefully, "So millennia moves like…?" 

"Eons." Lucifer answered, "Eternity. Time ceases to exist and there is only…" Chloe uncovered her eyes and watched him as he searched for the words, "anguish. Eternal and unending suffering. The suicidal ones, like our friend Judas, soon realize that the problems they left behind on earth actually weren't as unsolvable as they thought. For as bad as people _think_ situations get, there _is_ a way out. Humans can take control of their lives and change their reality, thanks to free will; you're welcome.” He leaned back, eyes wide, annoyed at explaining it, “Here there is no control. They are stuck in their torturous problems for all eternity with absolutely no way out. Except for personal forgiveness, but that never happens down here." He eyed Josh, "How did you leave him, if I may ask?" 

Josh paused a moment and then answered flatly, "He hung himself." He swallowed and nodded, looking at the decanter. "I tried to stop him, make him understand, but...he fought me off. These Hell loops are strange, it seems like I should have been able to get back up in time but..." He gave a sad smile at Lucifer, "He didn't _really_ think it was me. I think he wanted to, but...he didn't." His smile faded. "I told him I forgive him, Lucifer, I told him he didn't have to keep blaming himself. But he always will, won't he?" 

"Most likely," he conceded, "But Joshua, he can't leave. Dad won't let him. He's damned here forever; the chains are already back on the door." 

"But it's not Dad's call," Josh said, voice rising, "He was my friend and he betrayed _me_ , this guilt is between him and me, and I forgive him. Dad needs to stay out of it."

Lucifer gave him a mocking look, "Well then you can have that little conversation with Dad and he can let Judas out himself. I'm not getting involved in that." 

"But you're the Devil, you're Lord of the Damned!" Josh yelled, frustrated.

"Yes! And as long as Judas is Goddamned he'll remain here with the rest of the damned!" Lucifer yelled back. 

Josh flung himself against the back of the sofa and closed his eyes. "What can you do? Aren't you supposed to be able to rival Dad? Aren't you nearly all-powerful?" 

Chloe cocked her head slightly and looked at Lucifer. Lucifer sat perfectly still and looked furious. Finally, through gritted teeth, he responded with, "Apparently not, as I wound up down here and Dad still calls the shots." 

Josh didn't have anything to say to that. 

"Always a good time down here." Maze said drily and finished her glass. She took Chloe's glass and downed the last bit of it. She slapped her thighs and stood up. "But the nostalgia has worn off, so, let's go." 

"Couldn't agree more." Josh drained his glass and purposefully set it on the table. He left his hand on it and stared, deep in thought. 

"Feel like you still have some unfinished business," Lucifer teased with some malice to the words and set his empty glass down on the table before he stood up, "Just go fuck him already." 

Josh glared up at him and stood up, "You're so vulgar!" 

"And you're such a prude!" Lucifer retorted testily, "Stop repressing your own desires and go fuck whoever you want!" 

"I don't want to fuck anyone!" Josh shouted.

"You're obviously in love with him, just go do it!" Lucifer yelled back, annoyed.

"I love everyone, Lucifer! I can love everyone and not want to fuck any of them. You should be able to understand that, you're just the opposite! You fuck everyone and don't love anybody!" 

Lucifer's mouth dropped in shock. He looked to Chloe and back at Josh. Josh waved both his hands in front of his face rapidly, "I don't care. I don't care Lucifer, because you just won't get it. You're a fucking angel, you will always be an angel, and despite your millennia of meddling with humans, you don't get it! You'll never fucking get it, Lucifer, so _just stop trying_!"

Everyone stood in stunned silence and stared at Josh. Chloe had thought that the coldness Demon Josh displayed was creative license on the part of the demon, but Joshua Nazareth wore that same look now. 

“I love everyone," Josh hissed in Lucifer's direction, " _so deeply,_ and you'll never know how that feels. My chest always feels like it's going to explode with how much I love _every single person_ I meet. It feels like it's going to _implode_ when they don't believe I love them." Josh inhaled deeply and fixed Lucifer with a determined look, "And they don't have to do anything, Lucifer. Nothing. No favors, no deals, I just love them unconditionally. I have never once needed sex to convey or confirm how I feel about anyone or to find _happiness_ or _pleasure_.” He gave a laugh, “I'm just not interested in sex, and that's FINE! And I _loved_ my life." 

Josh exhaled and his body seemed to shrink. He shook his head as if to shake away the memories and fixed Lucifer with a controlled glare. "But why am I even talking to you about this? You don't care and I don't care that you don't care. Let's just go." He curled his fingers at Chloe and Maze to come in and he put out his hand. He glared at Lucifer, "Don't touch me." He snapped. Lucifer waited until Chloe and Maze laid their hands over Josh's and placed his hand on top of theirs. "All rise," Josh said, and as he said it, Lucifer stepped back and removed his hand.

"Lucifer!" Chloe cried out, but she, Maze, and Josh stood in her living room again. She stared at the empty spot where Lucifer should have stood. 


	8. Chloe

Chloe turned to look at Josh as he picked up the coffee mug Lucifer brought him. He glanced at her, "I'm not drinking from this, I don't know what he did to it." 

"Where is he?" Chloe demanded, voice firm.

"Probably in Hell." He responded and turned to walk toward the kitchen. 

"Bring him back!" Chloe demanded. Although, she was still stunned at the sudden normalness of it all. Was what just happened even real? No, definitely real. She smelled like a campfire.

"I can't, we're already here. Don't worry, he's the Devil. I’m sure we can just talk about him and he’ll show up.”

Maze rolled her eyes and headed for the stairs to trudge wordlessly up to her old bedroom.

Chloe narrowed her eyes at Josh, "You're a lot sassier than I expected." 

Josh looked at her with slightly narrowed eyebrows but didn't show any sign of being particularly surprised by the comment. "I think a lot of people are really shocked when they learn that. I literally don't know why, I've seen what's written about me and it's pretty obvious I'm sassy." He said and hissed sarcastically, "Sassy Jesus." 

Chloe followed him and sat at the kitchen peninsula bar, "Why are you so hard on Lucifer?" She pulled out her phone and opened her messages. _Are you ok? Where are you?_

Josh looked at her like she was crazy, "Because he's the Devil." He poured the coffee into the sink.

"You were hard on him in Judas' memories too." 

"Because _he's the Devil_ ," Josh enunciated as he began to pour himself a fresh coffee from the pot, "He's kinda been a dick my whole existence -- sorry," he held up the hand with the coffee pot in it in a moment of pause, "he's an asshole. I'm trying to not use sex-specific derogatory terms. I just feel like that's more inclusive and doesn't demean one gender or sex over another." 

"That's very woke of you." Chloe responded, caught off guard, but continued, "he's changed though." 

"That's what Amenadiel kept saying," Josh muttered and set the coffee pot back, "Amenadiel filled us in. A lot. Like, at this point, I know more about Lucifer than I've literally ever cared to." 

"He has. He's grown. He's a better person." 

Josh turned to face her and leaned back against the counter. A sincere smile crept across his face and he looked at her with almost pride in his eyes. "You're very sweet, Chloe Decker," he said, grinning, "I can tell you want to find the good in people. I do too. _I can't tell you_ how much I look for the good in people. Lucifer's not people, though, he's supernatural. Like the rest of them. The only celestial in the whole angelic bunch that actually cares about the human experience is Azreal, and frankly, I hope you don't meet her for a long, long time. She is great though." He took a sip of the coffee and moaned, "Oh, that's good."

Chloe tilted her chin up, "Lucifer made it." 

Josh spit his second sip back into the mug and placed it gently in the sink. "Why do you think he's changed?" He asked and folded his arms, patiently waiting for an answer. 

"He cares about right and wrong," Chloe said, "He wants bad people to be punished. He's better about going along with the law instead of moral right and wrong, which is an improvement. And he cares about us." 

Josh nodded, "Who's us?" 

"His friends." 

Josh pointed upstairs, "Oh, like the friend he stabbed in the gut? Those are the friends he cares about?" 

Chloe reconsidered her words, "His human friends." 

Josh hummed and folded his arms again. 

Chloe waved her hand in front of her, "He has. He's close with Amenadiel, he cares about his nephew, he cares about my daughter, he cares about me," Chloe said, "Look, Eve was here. She was trying to get him to do the things he used to do and be the person he used to be and he hated it. That's not who he is anymore. He ended things with her because he didn’t like who he was with her." 

"That little minx," Josh snorted a laugh, "Is she still around? Nevermind, I don't care, bitches be crazy--" he caught himself and gave a frustrated groan, "that woman be crazy. That all sounds great Chloe, but you sound like you're trying to _convince_ rather than inform. I'm calling it as I see it." He breathed the slightest sigh as he sized her up. "Did you always know he was who he was?" 

She gave a shake of her head, "No. I mean, yes. I didn't believe him. I only saw his Devil face--body--wings somewhat recently. That's when I believed it. But he told me he was the Devil from the start and hundreds of times in between, but I thought he was playing with us or it was some kind of metaphor or…maybe he was just crazy." She thought about all those glimpses she had caught of his Devil face in reflections; all those brief uncertain glances she tried to reason away.

Josh's eyebrows shot up, "You thought he might be crazy and you _still_ brought him to active crime scenes?" 

She gave a reluctant nod and tried to backtrack, "It's...it's complicated." 

"Honey, I'm going to stop you right there," Josh said gently as he pushed off the counter and reached over the peninsula. Thoughtlessly she reached her hands over the counter too and he rested his on top of hers, "Divorce proceedings are complicated. Making perfect homemade mayonnaise is complicated. Season two of _Westworld_ is complicated. Relationships? Those aren't complicated." 

"Lucifer and I are pretty complicated," she said with a sarcastic huff. 

He shook his head. "No. No, no, no. Either you trust each other completely, or you don't. And I get it. He's Lucifer. He's kind of hard to trust." 

Chloe felt her expression soften, "No, I trust him completely. With my life." 

"But do you?" He questioned with a concerned tilt of the head, "With your heart? It's completely understandable. He's sort of a Loki character, right? A bit of a trickster. He doesn't _lie_ , but he doesn't always tell the whole truth, and he certainly likes to be in control of situations, doesn't he? People do what he wants because he plays on their desires. Or he indulges them with a deal. Either way, he always comes out on top. The Devil always gets his way. Tricky, tricky."

Chloe broke eye contact as she considered that. 

Josh squeezed her hands, "I'll give you credit, though. You're probably working through some trust issues. Since you specifically said 'my daughter' I take it there’s probably a baby daddy somewhere in the picture and _don't I know_ what mixed families can be like.” He huffed a sympathetic laugh, “That has to be hard, dealing with the history of the relationship you had with your daughter's father and the relationship as it is now. I assume he's not dead. Widows typically keep old family photos around." He scanned the apartment.

"No, Dan is alive," she admitted, "he's another homicide detective at the precinct."

"You work with your ex and your crush?!" Josh asked, scandalized, "Oh my, what is that even like?" 

Chloe frowned, "Well, Lucifer steals his pudding from the break room fridge and Dan tried to shoot him dead the other day, so…"

"Ahhh," Josh said thoughtfully, his jaw jutted out sideways as he considered it, and then brought it back into place, "So basically exactly like someone would expect?" 

Chloe thought about it and nodded reluctantly.

"Cool," Josh said, "So, interesting, newly redefined relationship with baby's daddy--"

"Trixie's Dad, my ex-husband," Chloe corrected, irritated. 

Josh paused, "Your daughter's name is Trixie?" 

"Yeah." 

"That's a hooker's name." He told her like she didn't know. 

She closed her eyes and counted to two. 

"Ok, back to the topic at hand," He inhaled, "So now you find with Lucifer, someone you knew for years and thought _might_ be crazy, is the actual Devil. That probably took some processing. And you're a homicide detective," he frowned, "so while you want to see the good in people, you probably see the worst in a lot of people all the time. How do you emotionally open up to someone when you're constantly shouldering all that baggage?" Chloe looked at him with stunned amazement and let out a laugh. 

"You think I don't open up?" She asked incredulously, "You think I don't love him?" 

Josh straightened with a nonchalant shrug, "Of course I think you _love_ him. But do you like him?" 

She sat up and sighed incredulously, "What? Of course, I like him."

Josh cocked his head to one side with a thoughtful look, "Do you? Like, if you weren't interested in boning him because you obviously are, would you actually enjoy his company? Do you actually like the person he is?" 

Chloe sat up straight and realized Josh was genuinely interested. 

It was a probing question. Did she actually like who Lucifer was as a person? She thought back to the annoyances he was at the center of. Drinking at crime scenes, the casual drug use, the indifference to details, jumping to conclusions just to wrap up early, his tendency to withhold information rather than tell her the truth--Josh nailed that one. Why did Lucifer have to do that? And his relationship with Eve, in her face all the time about it. Like he was taunting her. He had to know how empty her chest felt when he spoke about them, how could it not have been obvious? 

And she thought about sitting in a car together at a stakeout. About him questioning who was the real person, the work persona or after-hours persona? And the sincerity in his voice when he told her he liked work very much, how when he was on the job, the job had his full devotion. She thought about how he remembered everyone's coffee orders and the donut drop-offs for the precinct, for lending out Lux for stings, for using his shady connections and cashed in deals to get her into places or information for cases. She remembered a birthday when she was crushed that he left, but came back to give her a thoughtful birthday present. She remembered game nights with Trixie, dancing at Lux, the look he got when he connected people's motives with crimes. He cared so much about what was right and wrong, even if it was oddly skewed. Perhaps mortal right and wrong and celestial right and wrong didn't always align. That made more sense as to why he often reacted the way he did. But he was always trying to learn, to do more things by the book, to be better at his job, to be a better partner. He cared so much about helping her. Sometimes he looked at her in such a way that she believed he genuinely cared about her. All the traits were so... likable. 

She nodded, "I do," she said and looked at Josh, "I do like who he is."

Josh didn't look disappointed or pleased. He merely held out his hand in acknowledgment, "Well there you go." He said, "What's complicated about your relationship then? You like him and you love him. Why do you need to convince me he's a better person than he used to be? Shouldn’t matter." 

"Because you're Jesus Christ!" She exclaimed, annoyed. 

"You don't have to convince me! I'll think the guy is sketch forever." He reached out his hand, took one of hers, and gave it a squeeze, "Don't worry about what other people think about you two, either. Honestly, I wouldn't even worry about what he would ever think about you. Whatever you're afraid to say to him, because I've been watching you out of the corner of my eye and you stop yourself from saying _a lot_ , don't be. Just say it. Lay it all out. You two can either address whatever is hard to discuss together, as a couple, or," he dropped her hand and smacked the counter with his, "he can go to Hell." 

Chloe pushed her tongue against the back of her teeth as she felt her throat tighten up. "That's actually what I'm afraid of." She admitted. 

Josh paused and frowned, "Oh." He exhaled. He was silent for a moment longer and said, "Well, then I guess you would know how he feels about you." 

She breathed through the tightness in her throat and muttered, "Ignorance is bliss."

"Honey, this," he pointed a finger and gestured to all of her, "this is not bliss. _Knowledge_ is power. Better to just know where you stand so you can take the next right step." She felt the tightness begin to wane and nodded reluctantly. "Chloe," he said kindly, "You're great. You're really great. Don't let others control your happiness. Don't let others control your self worth. I really want you to know that I love you with the fiery passion of a thousand suns," his lips broke into a wide smile, "and I just really want you to love yourself with that same passion. I think maybe you're in a good starting place. You maybe love yourself with the fires of, say, 5 suns. But there is so much more potential for you to shine. Don't let that dim. And if you ever do feel that fire burning out, just call out to me. Or silently request me. I'll always send my love for you any time, day or night, here or in those really weird corridors of Hell." They both laughed at that. 

She pursed her lips in thought, “Do...do I really give off the vibe that I let others determine my self worth? Because I don’t.” Yeah, that sounded like a lie. 

Josh cocked his head, “I think you maybe had a tough childhood and were _literally_ raised to believe either you fit a role or you didn’t fit a role and someone else had the complete authority of that call." 

Chloe cocked her head too as her eyes widened.

"Now," he continued, "there are these roles in your life that you really want, like being a great detective and great Mom and maybe the Queen of Hell--I don't really have a good reading on you if that's actually what you want or not--and you’re fighting a strong insecurity that someone is going to tell you you’re not a good fit. I think maybe you still have a hard time letting that mindset go.” He nodded, thinking. “I think you know that you have a pretty good group of friends now. I get the impression you and Amendadiel aren’t bffs, but he speaks about you with a lot of love, and Amenadiel has had nothing but an eternity of disdain for humans. I know Azreal trusts you with the most important human to her. I know Maze actually likes you. You mean a lot to her, and while she’d never admit it, it breaks her heart when you don’t understand her. She should be a little more forgiving because you’re not a prominent psychologist whose entire life’s work has been centered around understanding the human psyche and more recently the celestial psyche and therefore has a leg up on understanding how to process this insane shock and trauma, but…” he pursed his lips and shrugged, “you can at least know her anger is out of a place of love and not hate. And...you mean a lot to Lucifer. I was angry before when I yelled at him that he doesn’t love anybody, but I...I think he cares very deeply for you. That celestial shock and trauma is a real thing and...it’s not easy to get over. And if you think Lucifer has it hard, you should see Gabriel, who is still in Dad’s good graces and is completely self-aware. Total fucking mess. It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s been predestined, and reconcile with how you fit into it.”

Chloe nodded thoughtfully. “Like you?” 

Josh’s jaw tightened and after a moment nodded. He inhaled sharply through his nose and narrowed his eyes, “Can I ask you a question? One mortal to another?” 

She breathed out a laugh and shook her head, “Okay?” She responded incredulously. 

“How have you held up knowing all this is real?” He asked, “You just seem...put together.”

She let out deep sighed and slowly shook her head, “I’m not. I’m losing my mind. I…” She inhaled and sat up again as she looked at him, “It feels like I’m out of control. Like my life isn’t my own. Like I’ve been created just for Lucifer and everything I’ve done, every choice I’ve made has been made for me. What about you? How did you take learning that you were the son of God?” 

“No, I didn’t handle it well either.” Josh shook his head, “I mean, I learned about it while I was still really young, I knew about it for a lot longer than you. I was angry, unfathomably angry because what I was supposed to do was...was a pretty serious prophecy to fulfill--to bring about the end of one era and the beginning of another.” He huffed, thinking about it, “Like...no thanks. But there was no denying it, unfortunately. As if Gabriel showing up didn’t mean enough, the mystical powers gave it away.” 

“At least you got powers,” Chloe snorted, “I got nothing.” She looked up in time to see Josh narrow his eyes in confusion. 

He straightened a little and gave her a wary look. “Are you sure about that?” 

Chloe narrowed her eyes too. “I’ve never been able to turn water into wine or walk on across the ocean or raise the dead.” 

Josh waved a finger, “Mmm-mmm, nope, gonna stop you there, Lazarus definitely wasn’t dead, people are just dumb and totally miscalled it. He was absolutely alive and they entombed him. Happened all the time, that’s why those old graves had bells by them, to ring the watchman when they wake up to find they were buried alive. And, I know--” he held out a hand, “you’re going to say ‘but he was starting to smell!’ _Yes_ , they hadn’t bathed him in, like, months while he was sick! Yeah, he reeked to high Heaven, but he wasn’t dead!” He sighed and shook his head, “Kamael was right, death stops for no one, not even me. I can’t bring people back from the dead.” He thought about it a moment, “I mean...souls can be recalled a few seconds after death. But not after people start to smell, that’s for sure.”

She frowned. “So what can you do?” 

He reluctantly bobbed his head from side to side, “I can turn water into wine and walk across the ocean. And recall a soul a few seconds after a body dies.” 

“Well someone is God’s favorite.” 

“Hey, you know what? It’s a burden." He told her, and then remembered, "Oh, and I command the angels, which rubs on everyone.” 

Chloe cocked her head, “Is that how, with Lucifer--?” She pointed at the door.

“Yeah, still an angel, still under my command.” He smiled eagerly. “I don’t like to play that card very often, it upsets the celestials, but fuck that guy. I gave up my mortal life at 33, I deserve some liberties here and there.” 

Chloe smiled and it faded, “When did you learn you had to die? Were you told when you were going to die?” 

Josh’s smile faded too. “Pretty early. I didn’t know when I was going to die, but context made it sound fairly early. I was just into what you’d call the teenager years when Gabriel told me. I ran away, went to the far East, learned a few things. Realized there’s no running from Dad, he’s everywhere, so...I returned home.” 

“You tried to leave and wound up fulfilling the prophecy anyways?” She asked, “So then...everything is predestined for us.” She motioned between the two of them.

He shrugged, “It is. Most mortals run as nature intended. Humans do what humans are supposed to do, more or less. But some of us have roles to play and…” He frowned and let out a conflicted sigh. He looked at her, uncertainly, “You know, it didn’t feel right not doing what I was supposed to do. When I was learning, it didn’t feel bad, but when I tried to take on a carpenter apprenticeship out East, I felt sick about it. I...Chloe, I actually felt good when I was doing what I was _created_ to do. And that sucks, right? But...does it?” 

She thought about it, but didn’t say anything. 

He shook his head, “People are selfish and lazy and stupid. Mostly. But they mean so well. I choose to believe they mean well. You think that too, right? That’s why you became a law woman? To help uphold right and wrong, to help people? That’s what I wanted to do, too, and I loved doing that. Helping them as I was _meant_ to help them...it felt right to me.” 

She nodded. “I think you were onto something about me trying to fit a role. I thought if I got out of acting people couldn’t tell me that I didn’t ‘fit’ anymore, but, I definitely let anyone with the upper hand get under my skin about whether I could do this job or not. It’s always felt right, even when I was given a hard time, but...it feels like someone can step in and just take it all away at any moment.” 

“But you still do it.” He nodded and looked like he was remembering something private. 

Chloe nodded too. “I thought I chose this, but was I supposed to do this so I would meet Lucifer?” 

Josh shook his head immediately, “Oh, no, not at all. If Dad wanted you to meet Lucifer, nothing could have stopped that from happening, regardless if you were a detective or not. Dad actually is all-powerful, it’s why Lucifer gets so angry. I obviously didn’t take the all-powerfulness particularly well for a few years, but one gets used to the idea. So, no, you choosing law enforcement was all your idea. But,” he shrugged, “there’s something poetic about it. You investigate crimes, Lucifer punishes them.” 

She snorted a laugh, “Like we were made for each other.” 

Josh hummed again, “Well, kind of. Lucifer didn’t choose to rule Hell, that’s his punishment. Don’t forget Lucifer chose to run a nightclub when he came to earth, not become a cop or vigilante or something.” 

Chloe frowned, “But...he makes such a big deal about how it’s his responsibility to punish people.” 

“Remember how a minute ago I said how good it felt when I did what Dad _wanted_ me to do?” Josh asked rhetorically. “Dad decided he wanted Lucifer to oversee the damnation of souls, so there’s probably some string pulling that makes him think that way even while here on earth. I don’t think we can escape it.” 

She set her jaw as she considered it. “So...being with Lucifer feels so right because that’s what I’m supposed to do?” 

Josh shrugged, “If I understand correctly, I think normal people feel that way when they’re in love, so who knows? I will say,” he leaned forward again, “Dad has played matchmaker before and those couples haven’t exactly been the dashing romance stories of all time.”

Chloe nodded and considered that. 

“I wouldn’t linger too long on the thought that you were made for _someone_ ,” Josh said carefully, “I think you should consider that you were made for _something_. You’re blessed.” 

“But I don’t have any powers.” Chloe said, frustrated.

Josh thought about it. “When I was a child, I loved birds,” he began, “and I would make these little cute warblers out of clay.” He closely cupped his hands together to indicate the size. “The ones that I really liked? That I thought turned out really good? I wanted them as pets. So I brought them to life.” He nodded in thought and pursed his lips. He squinted. “That was actually horrifically cruel in hindsight because I had no clue what I was doing and I was making these little monstrosities that had a tendency to die pretty quickly, then I’d bring them back to life, and they’d die again, and I’d just do that until I got bored.” Chloe stared at him and felt her upper lip curl and he made eye contact with her again. “Chloe, I thought _everyone_ could do that. I did that _for years_. Finally James told me I had to stop because it would creep people out. I was something like 10 years old. I honestly didn’t know that doing that was,” he shrugged, “extraordinary. It was just so natural.” He eyed her, eyebrows slightly drawn together. “What about you?” 

“Well, definitely not creating Frankenstein's monster.” She said. “I don’t have anything. I’m immune to Lucifer’s mojo but...that’s it.” 

“Again,” Josh said with some emphasis on the words, “it felt _natural_. So natural I thought everyone could do it. It didn’t feel out of the ordinary and I didn’t know bringing figurines to life was special. _For years_.” He sighed and shrugged, “You’re not the son of God, so it will be more subtle, lest people think you’re the second coming of Christ, but...there has to be something.” 

“That’s sweet,” she sighed, “I’ll keep an open mind.”

She was not going to keep an open mind. 

Josh frowned like he knew what she was thinking. “You actually don’t have an open mind, do you?” 

Chloe frowned too, “Of course I have an open mind, it’s kind of a job requirement.” 

“No, that’s not what I meant and you know it,” Josh blew a raspberry, “I mean you didn’t believe in Heaven and Hell before all this, did you?” 

“Oh,” Chloe admitted, “no, I didn’t. I believed in true good and evil, but not the divine.” 

Josh hummed in understanding, “Ah, hence you thought Lucifer was crazy.” 

She bobbed her head side to side, “I mean, it’s a little nuts. If a year ago someone had told me I’d be sitting in my kitchen talking with Jesus Christ over coffee, under no circumstance would I have considered that remotely possible.” 

“So you wouldn’t have believed you were a gift from God then either?” Josh asked. 

Chloe shook her head. 

“Do you believe it now?” 

She let out a humourless laugh, “Yeah.” 

“See, I don’t think you do,” Josh rested on his forearms as he leaned further over the counter, “I think you believe you’re a gift _for_ Lucifer rather than a gift _from_ God. I think you feel like if you don’t fit this role, then...then what do you have?” Chloe felt her eyebrows draw in as she glared at him. He briefly held up a placating hand, “I’m not trying to upset you, I’m trying to get you to think about this differently. You’re this amazing person who has had an entire life before Lucifer. You have a child and were established in your career and you’re a really great detective.”

“Yeah, thanks to Lucifer,” she muttered and reached behind her to let down her ponytail. A whiff of smoke escaped as it fell around her face, “He’s able to get confessions out of anyone; he understands people’s desires. I can find suspects, but I can’t get them to tell me anything. I’ve never been able to; it’s why I kept him around when I was new in my detective role. Well, that and I was told to. It was a good career move.” 

Interest crossed Josh’s face, “Convenient he landed in your life at the right time then.” 

She let out a laugh, “Yeah, I guess so.” She looked at him, “What about you? When did the right people fall into your life?” 

“Uh,” Josh thought about it and blew out between his lips, “Huh, I don’t know. There were dozens of people in my life that were meaningful. I didn’t stay in one place for too long, so I don’t have a long history with anyone in particular. But a lot about meeting the right people was about being in the right place at the right time. Mary, for instance,” he said, “I know a lot of people have pinned her as the scandalous woman who was stoned and I was all 'he who is without sin cast the first stone,' but that wasn’t her.” He shook his head, “That was someone else, who also didn’t deserve that anyways. Mary had just lost her husband when I met her. He left a fairly large fortune, all things considered, except for the fact that women couldn’t inherit estates. But,” he held up a finger, “passing the estate along to a Rabbi was acceptable. She made me executor and we have been together ever since.” He smiled, remembering, “She’s so sharp, Mary is. She’s a brilliant person, she’s unshakably loyal, as you saw unarguably beautiful, and she had so much faith in what we were doing. She always believed in me. Her fortune let us do a lot of things and as unfortunate as the circumstances were, that money came at just the right time. She took a huge risk trusting me, but there was never a doubt that she truly believed what she was doing was right.” 

“You loved her?” 

“I loved everyone,” Josh corrected, “but Mary is special.” 

“You speak of her like she’s still around.” 

“Yeah, she’s in the Silver City right now, we literally spend all of eternity together.” Josh smiled, “She’s my best friend. Peter, too. James, John, you know the rest,” he waved his hand, “just missing Judas. And I do miss him.” 

“He meant a lot to you.” She said, watching his expression. He was sad. 

He nodded, “Being semi-divine doesn’t make me immune to human emotions. It’s probably one of my greatest traits, being able to empathize and sympathize and feel so strongly. When he betrayed me, it hurt. It hurt a lot.” He nodded slowly, thinking about it, “Thinking about it, I was angry at him, but I was angry at everyone. Mostly I was angry at Father, which wasn’t really his fault, but it’s super easy to blame him. But it’s all in the past and now I’m in Heaven surrounded by everyone I love... except him. And his absence is always felt.” He swallowed and tears began to well in his eyes.

“The worst part about someone dying,” he said, “is that there is an empty space left in their place. There’s...no more happy looks, there are no more late-night conversations, there’s no more future with that person. I know you know that,” he acknowledged, “but at the end of it all, after you die? There’s all of eternity together. And it’s not a companionship like it is here on earth. This is a completely different experience and that’s the beauty of life. You can’t fathom what Heaven is like, probably like you couldn’t fathom what Hell was like before today. There’s a...wholeness that you feel. There’s no jealousy or pettiness. Everything in this realm seems so trivial once you’re in Heaven. There’s a feeling of finality and belonging and…” he sighed, “it’s hard to describe. It’s just something you feel. But...in all that happiness, there’s also that sense that something is missing, and…there’s just a hint of sadness that lies under all that good. Those souls in Hell,” he swallowed and a tear ran down his cheek, “Chloe, every single one of those people had someone who cared about them. A lot. Maybe it was familial or romantic or platonic or just even a regular appearance in their life, but in all of human history, there hasn’t been someone who wasn’t important. People go to Hell. It’s cosmic justice or whatever. But they aren’t forgotten. Their absence is felt by those they shared a life with.” Another tear ran down his cheek, “I miss him every day, Chloe, and I’ll miss him every day for the rest of eternity, and that’s,” his voice broke and he squeezed his eyes shut, “and that is awful.” He covered his face with one hand and sniffed. 

Chloe reached out a hand and took his and squeezed it. He squeezed it back. After a few moments he uncovered his face and wiped the tears away, still holding her hand tight. He looked at her and pressed his lips together, nodded, and released his grip. 

“I don’t know why Dad blessed your parents,” he said, “I don’t know why Dad blessed my Mom. Sure didn’t feel like a blessing growing up. But I know that I made a difference in people’s lives. I’m still making a difference in people’s lives and I don't really do anything.” He shrugged casually, “You are a gift, but I don’t think you’re a gift for Lucifer. I think you’re a gift for humanity. I think maybe you and Lucifer were meant to figure out what your roles are together. There’s no veil of deception between your two, or one having supernatural power over the other, at least not organically. From the look on your face, I’m sure Lucifer has managed to fuck up Dad's original intent regardless,” Chloe looked down, “but at least the slate was originally clean when it all started.” She saw his hand slide slowly towards her and she glanced up. 

Josh looked at her with calm concern. “I know you don’t believe me. I wish I could. I can’t tell you how badly I want to ‘mojo’ you right now into believing me for your own good, but I’m not going to. Keep an open mind, Chloe. This is bigger than you. It’s bigger than Lucifer. It’s bigger than his ego, and Dad have mercy, don’t we know what a statement that is?” They both chuckled at that.

“Keep an open mind. Maybe...keep the faith? Amenadiel and Lucifer...they’re stuck in limbo right now, but they both have you. I think you’ve given angels too much credit; they’re _only_ meant to serve God, Chloe. They aren’t supposed to have their own thoughts or personalities, they’re supposed to be drones for Dad. They were created for very specific purposes and long ago Lucifer and Gabriel self-actualized right into their own near God-like deities. The two have processed it very differently, obviously, one is still in the Silver City and one has been exiled. I know Azreal has self-actualized too, you can’t be the Angel of Death and not do some introspective reflection, but that's been a long journey for her and she's had me to help work through it. Amenadiel, God’s Greatest Warrior, is reeling right now; he doesn’t know his place in this universe anymore and is clinging desperately to Lucifer for footing. As for Lucifer, how do you reconcile with being cast out of your home and away from your purpose? Be assigned something completely against your nature and forcing yourself to do your best?” He shook his head and rolled his eyes, “Ugh. Sometimes I work myself into feeling bad for the guy.” 

Chloe frowned. “Lucifer isn’t God-like though,” she said, “I mean, even when he wasn’t around me he still had limitations.” 

Josh nodded, “I can talk myself into feeling bad for the guy, Lucifer can talk himself into feeling powerless. Self-actualization.” He held up his hands in an uncertain gesture. 

“So...earlier, in Hell,” She treadded the question slowly, “you said Lucifer rivaled God Almighty. The all-powerful.” Josh nodded. “That doesn’t make sense? Lucifer is strong and he can definitely have an effect on people, but...I don’t think you know Lucifer as well as you think you do.” 

Josh stared at her, a bit taken aback. They looked at each other for a while. “Chloe,” he said slowly, “I don’t think _you_ know Lucifer as well as you think you do.” He blinked a few times and inhaled, pausing at the top of his breath, and finally asked, “You know don’t know Lucifer’s _actual_ purpose, do you?” 

“He’s the King of Hell.” 

“No, we went over this already, that’s his _punishment_.” Josh sighed, exacerbated, “That was not his purpose.” 

“Well then what was his purpose?” She asked flatly. She hoped it masked the nervousness. 

Josh blinked, “Lucifer _Morningstar_. Lucifer’s purpose is to bring light to Creation.. He created the sun when Dad said ‘Let there be light.’ He put all the stars in the sky.” Chloe stared at him. “You really didn’t know that, did you?”

Chloe forced a smile, “But that’s,” she began, “but that’s crazy. The stars aren’t pin pricks in the sky, they’re massive balls of gas and fire. They burn at thousands of degrees celsius.” 

Josh stared at her wide-eyed. “Yeah.” 

She blinked, “No, that’s...that’s impossible. There are...there are billions of stars, right?” 

“It’s not just the Milky Way galaxy,” He agreed. "Humankind does not have a number for all the stars in the sky. Honest to Dad, the only way I know the number myself is through _a feeling_."

Chloe sat up. “You’re messing with me.” She tried to smile but couldn’t. 

“How do you think those billions of giant burning gas balls got started?” Josh asked, genuinely curious.

“From the Big Bang.” She said. 

“Uh, _yeah_ ,” Josh nodded, “have you ever known Lucifer to be subtle about _anything ever_?” 

She blinked, confused, “He literally watched my daughter for an evening, unprompted and unpaid, like, a week ago. They ate chocolate covered strawberries and told stories for, like, two hours. The creator of the stars doesn’t just hang out with his mortal partner’s kid simply because I skipped game night.” 

Josh blinked and cocked his head, “Wait, seriously? The same guy we left in Hell just now?” 

“Surely you understand my skepticism?” She asked. 

“Surely you’re right when you said he’s changed.” Josh glanced off to the side in thought and jutted out his lower jaw to the side again. 

“That’s….that’s crazy.” She shook her head. 

“Interesting that ‘Lord of Hell’ is perfectly within the realm of reason for fitting this scenario, but ‘Light Bringer’ is too far-fetched?” Josh added a healthy amount of snark to his question.

“No, it’s just…” she stared at him, confused, “sure, the Devil can be infatuated with a human, maybe that’s just storybook enough to be believable, but,...the creator of the stars?” She asked incredulously, unbelieving, “Billions and billions of stars? He’s...he’s thrown himself in front of an ax for me. He’s taken a knife to the chest and, and bullets! He’s taken at least three bullets, one of which I shot him with!” 

“Wow, really?!" He smiled, intrigued, "What was that even like?” 

“I shot the angel that lit up the universe?” She asked incredulously. 

“The angel who lit up the universe is apparently perfectly fine risking a few deathblows for you.” Josh retorted, impressed, “I knew you were special.” 

“But I’m just a person.” 

“A blessed person.”

“But I’m just a mortal.” 

“So was I. And yet here we are.” Josh grinned, “Seriously, he threw himself in front of an ax? What did you do that someone threw an ax at you?” 

She folded her arms and leaned on the counter, distracted. “He was vulnerable. He could have died any of those times. He…” she thought about them, and realized that each time he had said something to the effect that he would always do it again. “Why would he do that?” 

Josh stared at her for a moment and a slow smile crossed his face.

“Some people are just worth dying for. Believe me, I know.” He gave a slight chuckle, “But honestly, that empty space that people leave behind when they die? It’s very real. I’m...I’m in Heaven, Chloe. A lot of people _do_ ultimately make it there. There’s only one person who meant anything to me that isn’t there, and I feel his absence. Lucifer’s situation is exactly the opposite. He’s in Hell, and everyone who ever meant anything to him isn't there. You can believe he feels that very keenly. It’s entirely believable that he would go to extreme measures to prevent you from being taken from his life, too.” 

She breathed out and pressed her lips together, “He doesn’t even love me.” 

“Are you sure about that?” 

“He hasn’t said it.” 

“Honey, people say a lot of things, and it’s all insubstantial. Don't get me wrong, I’m _well_ aware that words have power, but actions speak louder than words...hence I’m a miracle worker. From what Amenadiel's said, Lucifer has literally gone to Hell and back for you more than once, and made some pretty stupid choices on his part to give you the freedom to make your own. I was also made aware of a first love prophecy recently, so...I think there’s something there.” 

“But he doesn’t lie.” She whispered.

“No, he doesn’t.” Josh agreed and looked at her meaningfully. “‘I love you’ is just a phrase. What does it mean without anything behind it? That’s why I can 'mojo' people when I tell them I love them. They have to _feel_ it, and how can they feel it if they only get a few seconds with me? But you and Lucifer have had years together. Maybe there’s something in all that time that can tell you something?” 

Chloe considered that, and Josh stretched to place a hand on one of her folded arms. “Speaking of which, I really do love you. And for as weird as this conversation has been, I thank Dad that we got to have it. I feel close to you, Chloe. I like you a lot. I see what the angels see in you, and you have to keep the faith that you are so much more than you think.” He smiled his wide smile. “Whenever you need me, I’m serious. Just think the words and I’ll pop by for a chat. I’ll bring the wine.” He winked and she genuinely laughed. “From one blessed being to another, you’ve got this, Queen.” 

Chloe felt light. She felt happy. She felt good about herself and good about everyone else. She couldn’t remember the last time she smiled so broadly. Probably the other morning when she woke up next to Lucifer for the first time and he tickled her. That was pretty great, and the memory held her smile. 

Josh moved around the peninsula and held out his arms to her. Without realizing what she was doing, she embraced him in a hug and he hugged her back. "Alright, Monkey," he gave her a kiss on her forehead and she released him with a shocked expression, and he let his arms drop, "that's your sign from Jesus. Peace be with you." 

"And also with you," she responded immediately and frowned, but Josh grinned, completely tickled. 

"Don't forget," he held up a reminding finger, "I love you." And he was gone. 


	9. Chloe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note, Dear Reader: things get steamy
> 
> Be excellent to each other, and thanks for being excellent to me  
> \-----

The elevator doors opened to an unoccupied penthouse. Chloe called out, "Lucifer?" as she stepped in, and saw a used glass on the piano. She walked toward the bedroom and heard the shower off to her right. She considered what might happen if she knocked, but she had already lathered her hair three times to get the smoke stench out, blow-dried it, redid her makeup, and didn't care to redo any of that for a third time that day. 

She turned to head back to the couch, but stopped and looked at the bed. She unzipped her boots, kicked them off, threw her fresh blazer on the back of the closest chair, and collapsed on her side of the bed.

She grinned at that. _Her_ side of the bed. So dumb, but damnit, that thought felt good. 

She laid there and thought about why she liked Lucifer. She did like Lucifer. She liked his persistence. She liked his spontaneity. She didn't care for that spontaneity sometimes, like not coming back with the group earlier. Unfortunately, the only thing predictable about his actions were they were fairly unpredictable. But as a whole picture, she found his traits more charming than not. 

And perhaps that was it. Linda had asked her months ago--half a year ago? A year ago? Whether she wanted Lucifer in her life or not. She did want him in it. But she didn't just want him in it, she wanted him in it as her partner, fully and completely. It was why she was here, wasn't it? It's why she showed up the other night. She loved what they were. She even liked what they were. What the hell did Ella say, Deckerstar? A soft giggle escaped as she thought how ridiculous it sounded. _Deckerstar_. 

She stretched one arm up to the pillow and fingered the edge of the pillowcase, thinking. She glanced towards the master bath and closet and thought about him. Naked in the shower. She had actually wanted him to join her in the shower at her place the night before, but instead, he sat with Trixie and filled her in on his side of detective work. 

She smiled thinking about that. Lucifer truly disliked children, but he treated Trixie better than he treated...well, now that she thought about it, he genuinely treated Trixie better than he treated anyone. And Chloe was perfectly fine with that. 

She smiled thinking about him in the zoo. She was immensely grateful about the sudden return of celestial invulnerability because there was a lot of pent up rage behind that loosened cage bar when she hit him.

She thought about how he spoke to her. How he looked at her. How he kissed her. How he touched her. How he fucked her. She closed her eyes and grinned. She _really_ liked the way he fucked her. And she liked the way he let her fuck him, how he ran his hands over her and moved with her, and the feeling of him between her legs. Thinking about how that felt, how they were completely together...she sighed and remembered the pleasure that ran through her not just because of the sex, but because they were finally at that level of intimacy. There was something incredible about how much their history played into their lovemaking, how each caress and kiss meant something. How each moan or gasp or pleasurable sigh was perceived. 

_Damnit_ , she was horny. 

The water stopped running and she looked toward the bathroom. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and headed through the massive closet. What the actual Hell? On her salary, she couldn't even afford a walk-in. 

"Lucifer?" 

A moment later the bathroom door opened and Lucifer stood in the doorway naked, hair towel-dried and the towel flung over his shoulder. His face was lit up, "Detective! You just missed the shower. Want me to turn it back on?"

She eyed him up and down, "That's alright. I was thinking maybe you'd like to join me on the bed?" 

"I'd like that very much," He smiled and leaned down to kiss her.

Chloe placed her hands on his neck and kissed him back, pulling herself against him. He slid his arms around her and pulled her in, running one hand up her back into her hair.

She shifted them sideways and backed him up against the door frame. He hooked one hand around her thigh and pulled her leg up around him and ran his hand along it to her ass.

She pulled her mouth away and looked him in the face, taking in the fresh smell of his body wash. She pulled her shirt over her head and threw it to the side. Lucifer leaned down to kiss her chest, her neck, and worked his way back to her mouth. She closed her eyes and sighed with pleasure. She put her hands near his jaw and guided his lips towards hers, leaning into him, letting her leg slowly slide down along his.

He unhooked her bra and pulled it away and unbuttoned her pants. His hand slipped into them and he worked his fingers to find her clit. Tongue in her mouth, he gently rubbed a fingertip along her wet vulva and up to her clit. She slightly gasped at the pleasure of it. His mouth turned up in a smile, "Detective," he purred, “didn’t even need the shower,” and she felt fingers slide smoothly along her wet pussy. She pressed against him, holding his arm in place and sliding herself along his fingers, enticing him to just curl them up and in.

She ran her mouth gently along his, "I want you to fuck me like you mean it," she whispered, looking him in the eyes as he fingered her more purposefully.

He smiled and she looked at his lips. She loved his smile, and she kissed him again, her one leg still crooked against his. She shifted to give him room and he pulled his hand out to suck his fingers. With his free hand he started to pull her pants down. She let go of him and slid them down, bending over to pull the legs off.

Once the second leg was off, she set her knee on the ground and took his erect cock in her hand, and kissed the tip. He sighed pleasantly and leaned his hips slightly forward as she worked her mouth around it. She grabbed his thigh with her free hand and squeezed as she sucked his dick, running her tongue along the shaft as she moved back and forth. She released his dick with her hand and gently pressed against his abs with it once she had a rhythm. He ran one hand over her hair and gently grabbed at it, his other closed over her hand on his thigh.

Chloe glanced up and saw his head leaned back against the door frame, eyes closed, and looked relaxed. She closed her eyes and focused. When they previously had sex she could barely get wet enough to lube his entire cock. The penthouse had lubes, but there weren’t any at her place. She thought the right kind of blow job could remedy the situation and wanted to test the idea. She didn't have the patience for a half-dry fuck. She worked up enough spit and tongued it along the base of his cock, letting her lips loosen. She looked up again and saw him looking at her. Halfway up his shaft she tightened her tips again and pulled back, sucking the spit off him. She let his dick slip out of her mouth with a soft smack. 

He was immediately on her. He kissed her and she met his tongue with hers and spread her legs. She reached between them, guided his dick, and waited until the tip was in her before letting go. He gently thrust and her wet pussy greedily took the first couple of inches. He withdrew slightly and thrust again, going a little deeper. She moaned and squeezed her eyes shut, the soreness from the previous night's intimacies springing to life. But she wanted more, so she grabbed a handful of what damp hair she could, kissed him once, and brought her hips up slowly. He slid easily in as she reached the base of the shaft still slick with spit. Slowly, slowly she pressed her body against his and arched her back, the stretching of her around the base of his cock ached from all the recent fucking.

Lucifer let her take lead and he kissed her chin, her neck, her ear. She rocked her hips, getting his dick wet, and he moaned a laugh. He tilted her face towards him with one hand and kissed her mouth. Chloe released his hair and ran her hand around his neck and her other hand to his lower back and she pulled him close. Her breath shuddered with the slowly easing ache between her legs and she squeezed her eyes shut again. 

"Are you alright?" He whispered playfully in her ear. 

She nodded, "I want this," she opened her eyes and saw he was looking at her, and she loved the way he looked at her, "I want you." She breathed. 

“I want you,” He whispered. Slowly he fucked her and her body eased and relaxed. She felt his breath on her neck as he moved over her. She pressed one heel into the floor and wrapped another leg around him, pinning him close to her. His rock hard cock was unforgiving, but the more they moved together, the better and better he felt in her until it was only pleasure. She sighed and wrapped her other leg around him too, both legs moving up to wrap around his back. 

With that he braced himself and lifted up, pulling her with him. He rocked back onto his knees and sat on his heels, one arm wrapped around her back, the other wrapped around her ass, holding her up on him. She shrieked with laughter and wrapped both arms around his neck, giggling, and he smiled at her brightly. She straightened and steadied herself to grind on him. She kissed his lips and he leaned into her as they moved there on the closet floor. She leaned towards his ear and whispered, "Should we take this to the bed?" He hummed in agreement and she dismounted. Her legs were unsteady, but he had her hand and steadied her as he led the way out of the closet.

Once at the bed, he turned and she pressed on his chest for him to sit. He did, watching her with a grin, and she straddled him again, grabbing his cock to mount and slid down, moaning with pleasure. He grabbed her ass and rocked her against him. She had one hand on his shoulder, and he watched her face as she fucked him. She met his gaze and brushed one thumb over his lips softly, slowing her grind. He grinned and laid back on the bed, and she followed him down. One hand grabbed the bedspread and she slid up and down his slick cock. She closed her eyes and let her forehead rest on his cheek as he laid there, eyes closed, letting her ride him.

His hands rested on her hips, fingertips just pressing into her. She felt every inch of him in her as she rocked and her clenched fist pulled on the bedspread as her nerves fired with the pleasure of it. She didn't know how long she did that, but as the heat grew between them she sat up. He had a soft smile and opened his eyes to look at her. She kept her eyes locked on his as she rode him. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes again, and when he opened them he ran his hands up along her body and grabbed her breasts. She held his arms as he fondled her and she rocked her hips back and forth.

Sensation bloomed through her body and she let her head drop back and moaned as she felt herself pulse around his dick. He hardened further and she heard him moan as she let herself collapse against him again. She kept her hips pressed on him so his dick was deep. He ran his hands to the small of her back and thrust his hips up towards her and she gasped. She felt her cheeks heat as he relaxed and did it again. He did it again and again while she grinded ever so gently against his pubic area.

She didn't want to let go, she could feel herself stretched against the base of his cock and it felt _so_ _good_. She could feel her clit slightly catch against him as she moved, and she grew even hotter. 

She didn't know how she was moving anymore, or sense what he was doing, she just had to keep that sensation going, had to squeeze around his dick, had to rub against him as close as she could. "Don't stop," she whimpered, "Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop." 

"Come on me, Detective," he whispered back. The words made her nerves fire and she let out a soft involuntary cry at the eruption through her body. She felt weightless and euphoric, stemming from both her pussy pulsing erratically around Lucifer's cock and from where her forehead pressed against his head. The waves washed through her and she came to. As her senses returned, she felt a light sheen of sweat on her skin, his body against hers, and the bedspread squeezed tight in a fist. She let out a laugh and he held her as she laid her head on his chest for a few seconds while she caught her breath. Shortly she lifted herself to look at him, grinning wickedly, and gave another short slide up and down his still erect cock.

"What do you want to do?" She smiled. 

He smiled back at her, the same as he'd done each time she'd asked him before. It was strange to her that he lit up like that whenever she did, but damnit, she loved that smile. "I want to flip you on your back." He said.

Voluntarily she jumped off him, repositioned herself lengthways on the bed, and grinned at him expectantly.

He smiled wickedly and she shrieked with a laugh as he crawled over her, which quickly turned into a pleasurable moan as he entered her again. She held him in a tight embrace for a moment and settled back on the bed, letting her knees relax and fall outwards as he fucked her. She closed her eyes gently and felt him move in her, and she responded with synchronous hip movements. She reached one arm above her head and wrapped her hand around his wrist. She gently kissed his forearm and felt his other hand on her face. She turned her head and opened her eyes. He was watching her, running his thumb over her lips. She opened her mouth and sucked his thumb into it, flicking her tongue over the tip. He groaned a laugh and sat back, running both hands down along her sides until he kneeled on the bed and pulled her legs towards him, lifting one straight up just off-center his chest and pulled the other around him.

A shiver ran through her as he fucked her and she arched her back, letting her head tip back into the pillow. She wasn't as wet now that she had cum and it made for a different sort of pleasurable sensation. She glanced down and watched him fuck her, his eyes closed with pleasure, one hand holding her ankle, the other grabbing her hip, thrusting deeper. His hair had dried into a tousled mess, his jaw had that salt and pepper 5 o'clock shadow, and that body. _Fuck_ , he had an amazing body. Comparing him to his ‘former self’ earlier emphasized just how ripped he got. She was not upset that she was getting pounded by ripped Lucifer, that bulked ripped look was just her type.

She shifted and turned sideways, leg still up in the air, and Lucifer opened his eyes with surprise and grinned, moving the leg in his hand to a more comfortable position for her. His angle in her shifted and she jolted, "Fuck!" She whispered and looked back, and grinned wickedly. He did too and she felt his fingers press harder into her while he held her steady and fucked her sideways. _Hard_. Her body went weak and she gasped again, "Fuck, fuck, fuck," she breathed. 

"Look at me, Detective," she heard him say and she looked up. He watched her as he fucked her fast and furious. She propped herself on her elbow and gasped with the shift in angle again, but kept looking at him. Her eyes dropped down to his lips, his chest, his hands, his abdomen, and the V that led down to where she could just see the base of his cock as he moved just enough out for to see. She raised her eyes to look at his face again and the thrusting became slick again. Lucifer smiled, "Wet again?" 

She tilted her chin up, "Lucifer, you always know how to make me wet." 

"Do I?" He laughed and pushed her leg down alongside the other one, letting her slide off him, essentially turning her on her stomach. He gently laid on her back and brushed her hair aside to kiss the back of her neck, the side of her neck, the side of her mouth, and back down her neck again. Chloe pressed her ass against him and he returned a small hump, letting his dick rub against her. She let out a pleasurable sigh, spread her legs, and pressed her knees into the bed while bracing her hands under her. She felt his breath on her ear and his hands run under her stomach. He moved with her as she pressed back against him. 

"Lucifer, you're driving me crazy," she smiled. 

"Returning the favor," he murmured in her ear, "And using delayed gratification to keep you in my bed longer." 

"No, no, no," she laughed, "We've delayed gratification long enough!" She reached under and took his dick to guide it in. She backed up against it and gasped halfway in. She slid up to the tip and looked behind her. 

He leaned back on his knees with a wide smile, caressing one ass cheek, "I know what I'm about," he leaned over and kissed her shoulder blade.

She sighed, "Delayed gratification," she agreed. 

"Are you alright?" He murmured in her ear. 

She hummed in agreement. 

"We can switch it up," he assured her, gently pressing in another inch, then two. 

She rocked under him, sliding off some and then sliding down even further with a soft moan, "I want it." She murmured back. 

"You are so sexy," he breathed. She felt his weight lift off her. He grabbed her hips and pulled her back, lifting her to a more comfortable height for penetration. Chloe planted her knees and raised up on her hands. She closed her eyes and focused on the feeling of him sliding in and out of her pussy, the wetness of her, the hardness of him. She was dripping but he was still gentle, not moving too fast, not pushing too much too deep.

Fuck, he was thick. It made everything ache, but she had been so hungry for it since their first time. He was just so perfect, how could _anyone_ be that...right. She was getting fucked by an _actual_ angel. The maker of the stars. The thought sent a thrill through her body. The Devil himself, no less, and she loved him. She loved him, she loved him, she loved him.

She pushed back into him and hissed at the sharp twinge but stayed there. Her lips convulsed around him and he gave the quietest gasp. She felt a hand run up and down her back and the other grabbed a thigh. He fucked her slowly, deeply, and she felt her muscles relax. She exhaled and turned her face just enough that he could see the slightest profile if he looked. She closed her eyes and felt her legs go weak, but she stayed up. Then, the hand on her back slid around her, up under her rib cage, and lifted her up.

Lucifer held her against him, one arm around her upper body, the other around her lower. She gasped and squeezed her eyes, squirming on him to find a comfortable position. It was an awkward embrace, but he settled back on his heels and she could feel his cheek pressed against her back, hot breath coming fast. One hand grabbed at a breast and fondled her, the other ran along her mound until it found her clit. She groaned as he touched it and started, bent knees pressing against the outside of his, but he didn't let go. She didn't want him to, so she grabbed his forearms and let her toes curl against his legs. He began to rub her clit as he rocked her against him, cock deep in her. She couldn't hold back the groans and gasps that came from the electricity firing through her body. Pleasure, pain, and a strong desire to squeeze herself around that cock, to make _him_ cum. 

Chloe let her head drop back and Lucifer breathed in her ear, "This is what you want?" 

"Yes," She sighed, feeling the strength leave her legs. She gripped his arms tighter so she wouldn't fall. His embrace was everything. 

"This is what I want too." He sighed behind her and rocked, "Squeeze me like that, Chloe, keep squeezing like that." 

At her name, she gained a second wind. She bent one arm back over them and ran her fingers through his hair, she gained her balance and found his rhythm, and they moved together as the lovers they were. She wanted him so fucking bad, she wanted him all for herself, and she fucked him like he might disappear any minute. 

"I'm going to cum," he whispered. 

"Me too," she said and held him tighter, "Cum with me, Lucifer." 

His breath was a pleasurable shudder, "Are you sure?" 

His voice, his hands, his body made the heat in her rise, "Cum with me, I want you," She whimpered, his fingers starting at her clit again. She let out a cry and her body convulsed again, but she caught herself and fucked him as he fucked her.

Euphoria washed through her body again, light bursting behind her closed eyes. She regained her senses in time to hear him grunt and stiffen. They both stayed there, her on him, breathing fast, a sheen of sweat on both bodies. His lover's embrace softened into a hug and she felt him kiss the side of her neck, the back of her neck, her shoulder. She loosened her grip on his arms and held him to her, resting the back of her head against his. And they sat there, wrapped around each other. 


	10. Chloe

Chloe didn't want the embrace to end. One of her hands that held his arm followed it up as he brushed sweat-sticky hair from her face and neck. She sighed, reveling in his touch that ended where her jaw met her neck with a caress. No one had ever touched her the way he touched her, held her the way he held her. Did he hold all his lovers this way?

The thought made her eyes slowly open. She sighed deeply and ran her hand along his hand on her neck. She clasped her fingers through his, pressed his hand closer against her, and turned her face just enough to kiss it.

She felt him straighten up behind her and his lips nuzzled her ear, "Hello, Detective," she heard the smile in his voice and she nearly broke out into goosebumps. She felt his arm around her lower half tighten again, "You really did want me. Did you get enough?" 

Their entwined hands dropped back down to her chest, and he leaned in tighter to kiss her jaw before he loosened his grip around her body. She shakily slid off him and twisted to sit across from him. He also pulled his legs out from under him and stretched out. He leaned forward to place a hand on her thigh and kiss her lips.

She took his face with both hands and kissed him deeply. He shifted closer and she let her hands slide behind his neck. Their lips parted and she rested her forehead against his. "I'll never get enough of you." She meant for it to be a sassy, sexy reply, but it came out with far too much sincerity. His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her into a hug.

"I'll never have enough of you, either." He whispered and placed one hand on the back of her head to stroke her hair. She ran her fingers through his hair for a moment, and then leaned back to lie on the bed, and pulled him down with her. He slid an arm behind her and she rolled over to rest against his side, one hand on his chest. The bedspread had been disturbed enough during their lovemaking that the sheets had pulled down, and Lucifer worked the two of them underneath. Chloe wrapped her legs casually around the leg closest to her and a smile broke across his relaxed face.

"I'm glad you're here," she sighed. "I was terrified when you pulled your hand away from us."

"Oh, that," he chuckled and hugged the arm around her. He placed his other hand on hers and pulled it to lay across his heart, "I couldn't stand another moment of him. He maybe...hit a chord. Even before today, if I had never seen him again, it would have been too soon."

"He doesn't know you," Chloe stated softly, relaxed into his side, "You've grown and he's dead, so I wouldn't put too much stock in what he thinks about you." She felt him shift and she glanced up. He looked at her with a confused but touched expression. "Thanks for calling him."

"Honestly, I was ringing Azreal." He pouted, and shifted back to looking at the ceiling. "She had better have a good excuse for not showing up." 

Chloe lifted onto her elbow and looked at him. The sheen of sweat was already drying, his hair was a tousled mess, and despite his pouting, he looked happier than she'd seen in--well, only hours, if she was being honest. 

"I actually liked him," she said, "he seemed genuine." 

"As much as I hate to admit it, he is genuine." Lucifer sighed reluctantly, "and of course you liked him. He's Jesus Christ, singularly the most unlikely person in all of Creation to give off creeper vibes. He's more magnetic than I am, and that's saying something." He propped himself up on his elbow and looked at her with a serious expression, "Do you really think he didn't bone Judas?" 

Chloe gave him a look. "Lucifer." 

He shook his head and laid back down, folding his arms behind his head. "Just weird. I'm quite certain Judas is a homosexual and Joshua loves everyone. Seems like a wasted encounter." 

Chloe cocked her head, "I think you're right, I think Josh does love everyone. I also think sex is just a firm 'no thank you' for him. There are some people who just aren't that interested in sex. Also, where did your towel go?" She gave him a small poke in the ribs.

He glanced at her sideways and then over at the closet. "Right, be right back." He jumped up and walked around the bed.

Chloe followed him with her eyes and jumped when he turned around suddenly. His eyes lit up when he saw her watching him, "Detective, like what you see?" Chloe pressed her lips together and winked at him. He laughed and winked back. He jerked his thumbs towards the master bath, "I don't know about you, but I can't leave with my hair like this. Care to join me in the shower after all?" 

She tilted her chin up and smiled, "I would if I could walk." 

"That's a commentary on my sexual performance if I’ve ever heard one, and you're welcome." He smiled, pleased. 

"It was pretty great," she nodded, "but seriously, I'm just going to lie here for…" she slid back down to the bed, "a couple of days." 

"Great, I'll play hooker too." He said, continuing to the bath. 

"Hookey?" She corrected.

"What?" He glanced back at her, confused. 

She pursed her lips and shook her head. "Nevermind." 

He immediatly came back with a fresh towel. She laid it under her and wiped away the jizz that was beginning to leak out from between her legs. That was probably a dumb move, letting him cum in her like that, but it wouldn't be the first dumb move she'd made with him. He crawled back into his side and laid next to her. 

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, seriously, just give me a few days," she said, scooching up so her side was pressed against his, "Like, don't get me wrong, I really like having sex with you, and knowing what it's like is a serious turn on and I'm like a freaking slip and slide just at the thought of it, but you might actually break me if we have sex for the 10th time in 48 hours." 

"Don't worry, we'll get there," he grinned at her, "and you don't have to tell me. I'm going to have to actually start wearing briefs so I'm not full mast at the precinct. You really do have moves that make the Devil blush." 

Chloe let out a laugh and Lucifer chuckled too, "While I'm glad we covered that, it wasn't what I was talking about." He turned his head to face her and she faced him. "Are you alright after seeing all that?" 

"Hell?" She asked and looked back at the ceiling, "Yeah," She said with forced casuality, "Yeah, I'm fine. It wasn't...exactly what I imagined. I was just caught off guard." She studiously avoided eye contact until she couldn't anymore. She glanced at him. He was measuring her up. She looked back at the ceiling. "I'm fine." 

He laid back down, but she could tell he was tense. She thought about it for a moment, remembered what Josh said about not saying what she was thinking, and sat up. She faced Lucifer and he looked at her with concern. "I am alright, Lucifer." The certainty in her voice almost surprised herself, "It's fine. I handled it. I'm fine." 

"You shouldn't have had to ever handle it." He said and she couldn't distinguish whether his tone was angry or hurt. Then she considered it might be a combination of both. She placed a hand on his arm and ran it down to grab his hand. She got butterflies in her stomach all over again. 

"We're partners. We're lovers. We're...us. You don't have to hide your life or your history from me anymore. I'm glad it happened." She realized she meant it, too. 

He sat up and pulled her hand to his lips to kiss her fingers. "You don't belong there, Chloe." He sighed distractedly, "You never have and you never will. You're destined for Heaven and…" he shook his head, not looking at her, "You are not meant to deal with Hell." 

Watching his body language, she realized he wasn't just hurt, but hurting. She moved onto her knees and wrapped her arms around him. She shifted her hips and sat on his lap and looked him full in the face. "I can deal with anything, Lucifer. I can hunt down killers and I can deal with the PTA mom-shaming me for not being involved and I can face the fires of Hell," she placed a hand on his cheek and her chest clinched as she built up the courage to say what she needed to say. He had the same expression as he did when he left months ago, "but I can't live a life without you in it." Her voice broke, but she didn't cry, "If you'll let me, I'll always be with you. You just have to let me, Lucifer." She whispered and stroked his face. 

He stroked her hair and looked at her like he was trying to memorize every aspect of her face. "It's not up to me." He said, "I'm banished from the Silver City, damned to rule Hell for all eternity. And at some point, Detective," his voice caught, but he also didn't cry, "I won't have a choice. You'll be taken forever." 

Chloe let her gaze fall to his bare chest. She worked her jaw as he ran a finger from her ear down to the bend in her knee. "Why are you so sure I'm going to Heaven?" The words were colder than she expected. 

Lucifer didn't act like he noticed, "There's a specific type that goes to Hell. You don't fit it." 

She inhaled, eyes still downcast, "Really? Because, to me, it looked like the people who wind up in Hell are the kind that suffer immense guilt of some great wrong they committed. Because in a moment of weakness they let jealousy or fear or just personal human failing drive them to some horrible betrayal of someone they loved dearly." Chloe looked up and saw concerned confusion on his face, "They knew it was wrong. And they did it anyway. And they will be tortured by it forever." 

"Detective, what--" 

"I'm not going to Heaven, Lucifer," she whispered, "I'm no better than Judas. You were my dearest, closest friend, you're the person who meant the most to me and I was going to send you to Hell forever. Even before that, I was going to marry someone else just to...push you out of my life--"

"But you didn't," Lucifer tried to interrupt, but Chloe kept going.

"Just to convince myself that I didn't love you!" She raised her voice.

They both let their hands drop, and two tears spilled over her cheeks.

She looked away and quickly wiped them and sniffed. "I thought if I married Pierce then it would put these feelings I have for you in place, but it just felt wrong. When I saw your face I didn’t know how to handle that. Sending you away permanently seemed like the best option, but it felt so wrong, so I abandoned it.” She still couldn’t look at him, “I wish _so desperately_ that I could find the words to tell you why I felt that way, but...I don’t think I ever will.

"Then you were with Eve and that was torture. Then you left and that was torture too. Then I find out that I'm made for you, and it made me completely question whether this intense passion I’ve felt towards you all this time was truly mine or not. Maybe I wasn't made to be the perfect Mrs. Morningstar,” she finally looked at him and he sat quietly watching her, “but I _am_ the only person who sees you for you and who couldn't help but fall in love with the _actual_ you, Lucifer?"

He visibly swallowed and looked away too.

She blinked away the last of the tears and sniffed again, resigned to the truth. "That was torture too. To care about you so much and realize that you knew about that for so long, and realizing you kept trying to sabotage our relationship because you decided for _both of us_ that I shouldn't love you. To realize that so much of what made us good and what could make us great was out of my control. I always thought that what made you back off was something I kept doing wrong and I couldn't figure out what triggered you. Years, Lucifer, that went on for years, and even after all that heartache the only thing that hurt, even more, was not seeing you every day. I would go through all those weekly game nights with the three of us, and dancing at Lux, and getting so close to you only for you to just put a wall between us again because I knew it would restart--the loop would begin again!” She exclaimed ironically and shook her head in mild disbelief, “There were always hard times and they sucked,” she looked down and took his hand. He slowly curled his fingers around her grip, “but I knew we'd have good times again. And, if we could just get over this next rough patch, maybe there won't be a next time. Maybe we'll finally be Deckerstar and things will be good from here on out."

Her stomach felt sick, but she took a breath and slowly said, "That's what I'm most afraid of, Lucifer. I always lose you. I just don't want to lose you anymore, I want," she inhaled and locked eyes with him, "I want you to feel the same way about me as I do about you, and given our history, I'm so scared you'll leave me again. You'll pull back and say hurtful things to make me mad, or go marry someone else, or just leave entirely. Every year I'm more afraid because I care about you that much more deeply, even though it's never a matter of _if_ you're going to leave me, it's _when_ are you going to leave me? That's how Michael got in my head. He didn't put those fears there, I bury those fears _every day_ and each time we get close it's harder and harder to brace myself for when you're going to push me away." 

Lucifer looked horrified, "Detective…" He began and looked lost for words.

"That's what eternity holds for me. Judas relives his relationship with Josh for all of eternity, and my Hell loop will be an eternity of us." She sniffed and looked out towards the balcony, unable to look at him for fear of bursting into a full sob. 

"I...I didn't do those things to torture you, Detective," he said, devastated, "I did that because...I was trying to convince myself that it wasn't real. That I should move on because you would never love me, you were manipulated and I couldn't let your life not be your own. I did try to push you away, but...I never meant to hurt you." 

"How could you not tell?" She cried as she looked back at him. She pointed at her chest, "How could you not see you were always breaking my heart?" 

"Because you _never_ looked like your heart was broken!" He pleaded, "Detective, you are always calm and collected and calling me on my bullshit; you never let on that you _actually_ loved me!"

He pointed to the terrace, "I didn't know until you stood on that balcony and told me you loved me, after I had made up my mind to return to Hell. I didn't want to leave you, Chloe, don't you know you're everything to me?

"I came to Earth for something different. I was here five years and made deals and encouraged humanity to give in to their desires because fuck Dad, but then I met you. There…” He gazed at her and sighed, “there’s been something about you from the beginning. You saw me for who I am. Straight away. And...and I could see how you saw me. I could see that I wasn’t doing anything here on Earth that I wasn’t already doing in Hell. I came here for something different and five years in you were the only one who made me realize I had to do something to make that difference in my own life."

He briefly glanced down and gave a sarcastic laugh, "I wanted so badly for you to just give in to me. If you just agreed with me like everyone else then I wasn’t the problem, but you never let me get away with it. Eventually, I realized that I didn’t just want you, I _needed_ you. You showed me who I am by how much you...cared for me. And I’m so sorry for all the hurt I caused you. If I knew how…” he looked desperately at her, “if I knew how deeply I was confusing you and hurting you, I…” he trailed off and lifted their clasped hands to his lips and kissed her fingers and sighed.

“I tried so hard to tell you I’m the Devil, and you not only didn’t believe it, you couldn’t believe it, and that meant _everything_ to me. I don’t want to be evil, I don’t want to be cruel, and it was because how you saw me that made me think, perhaps, I had the potential to not be those things. You're not just the reason I'm here, you’re the reason I even tried to be a better man. I _like_ who I am with you. I actually like myself here with you and Ella and Linda and Amenadiel.” He pointed to the balcony again, “If I had stayed a moment longer, I selfishly never would have returned. I _had_ to contain the demons in Hell because _what if they came after you, Chloe_?" 

"What were they going to do to me? Kill me?" 

"Yes!" Lucifer cried, exasperated, "Do you remember our first case together? You were shot. You said you didn't want to die. I told you you wouldn't. If I stayed here while the demons were rebelling, I was putting your life at risk. I have to protect you! If I know you are safe, that is enough. As long as I know you are here, there is always hope. I can spend thousands of years there because I know you're here, safe on Earth! Then there is always the possibility that I can at least see you again. The moment you die, Chloe, that's it! I never see you again and,..." He sighed, "I'd rather have you furious at me here on Earth than love me and be lost to me forever."

She shook her head, upset. Son of a bitch, Josh called it. Lucifer had been doing everything in his power to keep her from being permanently separated from him. Oh, how little did Lucifer know what a fucking waste of energy that had been. "I haven't been holding you to your word that you wouldn't let me die, Lucifer. I don't expect you to take a knife or bullet or ax for me. You can't promise someone they won't die." 

"I can," he stated firmly.

"If I get killed, then all the sooner I show up in Hell." She said. 

"You are not going to Hell," Lucifer said, lost for how to convince her. “When you were going to send me back to Hell? I…” he sighed, “I know why you were going to do it. At least, I understand why you were going to do it.”

Chloe shook her head but stayed silent.

“But you didn’t! There’s nothing to be forgiven. And if you really think there is, I forgive you, Chloe, whatever you think you deserved to be punished for, it doesn’t exist. I only want you to be at peace with us. I’ve only ever wanted there to be an us and everything that has happened has led us to this moment. Here. In my bed and in my heart.” He cocked his head reluctantly and said lightly, “Admittedly, you’ve been in my heart significantly longer than you’ve been in my bed.” 

Chloe let out a little laugh and tucked a lock of hair behind an ear, “It sounds like perhaps it’s been a minute.” 

Lucifer breathed out a sad laugh, “It’s been thousands of years, Detective.” 

She looked into his eyes as the truth of it settled on her. She nodded, holding his gaze, “And you’ve been in mine." She let out a slow sigh, "And I have so many regrets for not saying something sooner.”

She watched his face fall and she bit her bottom lip as it trembled. "Will you…" she began and fresh tears welled in her eyes, "Will you at least be there? Will you be there and not some demon who looks like you? Because if I have to go through that for all of eternity, I…" tears rolled down both their cheeks, "I still want it to be you." 

Lucifer pulled her close as he gasped a breath. He kissed her hair, pressed his cheek against her head, and rubbed her bare back.

She sighed and with each breath felt herself relax into his arms, "Please don't leave again," she finally whispered, “I love you.” 

"I will do everything in my power to never leave you again," he said, holding her close. "You will _always_ have everything that I am." She felt him tense for a moment, and he slid his arms off her back and firmly but gently took her upper arms. He pulled her away to look at him, but he didn't make eye contact as he struggled to find the words. 

Finally, he straightened, looked her in the eye, and with what looked like an incredible show of courage, asked her, "Would you like to join me at Linda's for dinner tonight to--" he glanced away again, visibly swallowed, and with a deep breath, made direct eye contact again, and asked, "meet my Dad?" 


End file.
